Hellbound
by Darth daver
Summary: after the Moon presence fell, everything stayed unchanged . Until a messenger showed the hunter a certain emblem (Formerly "From blood to dust")
1. A new world, a new hunt

**A/N hello and before the real story begins I'd like to make a few disclaimers , so...**

 **first of, please bear in mind as you read that this is my first story so i would be thankful for any kind of feedback.**

 **Secondly, I will take some liberties with Bloodborne's character design and add a weapon or two.**

 **And lastly I don't own Bloodborne or RWBY. Have fun reading (hopefully)**

The curved blade cut the air as a dagger pierced Gehrman's shoulder.

His opponent swung his sawed-club at his head only to be thrown back by a shock-wave erupting from him.

The old hunter let out his aged and charred voice, a slight rhythm to it while his enemy send out a volley of poisoned knives that struck the tombstones surrounding him after he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"Oh, hide your children

here comes the forced villain

Close the windows, close the door

before the sun will be no more-"

Gehrman transformed the sword into a scythe and shot towards the other combatant, who slammed his armoured elbow into the old hunter's face.

The large figure reached into it's coat and retrieved a short, bone-white staff crackling with blue lighting. A carving of the dark-beast Paarl.

Breaking the small effigy, electricity ran through the metal on his body, heating it up as the little ones began to emerge from the soil, bearing all the weapons he collected.

The old hunter flew high into the air, the space around his scythe becoming as hard as steel.

"-Read them tales of days long gone

to drown out the wails of crushed bone

cradle them into deep slumber

less they see a hunter-"

Wind cut through the lilies where his opponent just stood, had he not quickstepped away.

Taking hold of a cane, the massive hunter saw the lightning on his arms embrace the weapon as it transformed into a whip and snapped at Gehrman.

His back hitting the soil, he saw his enemy close in. Reaching inside the ground, he pulled out his old blunderbuss and fired at him.

A few pellets connected and drew blood, yet his opponent didn't stagger or falter, he just advanced and took hold of his head, the heated metal charring his aged features.

Gehrman opened his mouth again for the third verse,only for a gravely, hoarse and far darker voice to join him.

"-light up the warming incense

that last line of defence

now hush before the beasts hear

or worse, the hunters we fear-"

Together, both hunters almost sang the poem that ghosted around Yahrnam's streets, as their weapons clashed and they took hits.

"-Those are the people we protect

the ones in wilful-neglect

So take up your arms to war

that they may hate us tomorrow more-"

A bayonet pierced Gehrman's elbow and his left eye went black through another one.

The older hunter lost more and more ground, not even the aerial attacks or shock-waves hitting their mark.

"-You see the hungry, bloodshot eyes?

Then the time has come to brutalize

To give them peace of mind

that they won't harm their kind-"

The blades of mercy cut open his torso, his clothes soaked in blood, yet he continued with the poem.

And as the Beastcutter relieved him of his peg-leg, their voices rose in volume.

"-Let us fight till dawn

Till there is no one more to act upon

Until our arms are drenched in crimson

and they are freed from this dominion-"

his opponent kicked him into rifle-spear and opened another deep cut in his stomach. His guts ebbing outwards.

"-When all is done, look up towards the moon

and see the ancient stare upon your pitiful rune

Give your life to make it fall

To bring an end to all"

with those words, Gehrman's scythe fell into the white lilies around him.

"Thank you ... good hunter, tell Laurence that I'm sorry. And please take my burden, let me finally rest in this garden. No more dreams..." he slow started to fade away into grey smoke, a smile forming on his Lips and a tear rolled down his cheek.

Now, only the gravely,dark voice remained "I will"

A lone Figure stood before him, on a field of white lilies, some were soaked red with blood after a long and brutal fight that finally ended. The lilies shook as a breeze came whistling through the Gravestones, that were the only reminder left behind for the Hunters of days gone, who all passed through the dream. Atop the figures head head rested a tri-corned hat, his face hidden behind a scarf, the only visible features were the eyes. Two crimson pools, spotted with grey-golden dots, looking down upon Gehrman, his former Mentor.

He wore a Dark grey coat, hiding multiple belts which housed throwing knives and other weaponry. A dirty, deep-blue almost black gamberson , straining to fit on the hunter, covered the once white shirt now sticking to his body as it was drenched with sweat and blood,a dark brown weskit secured it all in place. All of which were noticeably tattered and bloodied from his last encounter.

He tore his eyes away from his passing Mentor and focused on the Moon as it started to grow in size and pass through the clouds that formed after he came to the dream, it began to radiate with a eerie red glow.

' _Is the dream breaking down?_ ' While hoping for the Nightmare to end, the Hunter noticed a Creature descending from the Moon. The creature's body looked far to thin to support the weight of its head,which was hidden behind a white mask and adorned with tentacles.

As the Old one reached the Hunter's dream's ground, the clouds that covered the sky for as long as the Hunter could remember vanished to give way to a unending see of cosmic beauty, consisting of dark blues, purples and immense spots of abyssal darkness which were littered with uncountable stars that passed over the horizon until it met the apparent bottom of the dreams platform, a ocean of deep red sludge, slushing and bubbling over the chains holding the small isle of land aloft.

With the Creature closing in on him, the Hunter reloaded his gun and tightened the grip on his Beastcutter as he hit the lever on its grip and transforming it into its whip form.

Looking at the creature with a calculating gaze and trying to find points of attack and its means of attack, he let out a grim chuckle, his voice hoarse from disuse "A Hunter must Hunt... right Eileen?"

Closing in on the Old one, he didn't pay any attention to the newly revealed sea of stars which seemed to follow their opponents every move.

* * *

The fight proved to be one of the most challenging he had faced, not knowing what this great one could do as his opponent jumped out of his reach and let out a deafening screech at which the hunter fell on all four and barely managed to pull down his scarf before vomiting, what felt like every ounce of blood in his body.

he injected two vials into his thigh before standing up and dodging away from his charging opponent at the last second.

As he put some distance between him and the monstrosity before him, he noticed that the vial's effect wasn't there, the blood was useless...

turning to face his opponent, the hunter felt something brushing against his right foot. Looking down he found Gehrman's scythe laying between the lilies. picking up the scythe and dicovering that its blade was separable from the stock ,he holstered his gun .the hunter felt the effect of the Old hunter´s bone fading and his enemy closing in, evading a claw-swipe aimed at his head, he closed the distance between him and the creatures head slicing diagonally and once more saw why Gehrman used to fight with this blade, it went right through the creatures mask. The creature jumped back and started to cradle its face ,blood seeping through its claws.

seeing an opportunity to end the battle, the hunter once again activated the old hunters bone and disappeared into a cloud of yellow smoke, before reappearing in front of his opponent and showing his hand into its head and tore it out after gripping something soft. The Creature howled and let out another eardrum-destroying screech which let the great one's blood that currently substituted for his pool inside his mouth and coat his scarf.

He breathed out and saw all his arms emerge from the soil, he shot forwards past a angled handle. His gauntlets, still buzzing with electricity, locked around it. The weapons mechanical saw-head speeding up as it tore through the monster's tail.

Trying to jump away, its back met the Logarius' wheel. Split-seconds later, the great one's hind-legs snapped as the sheath of Ludwig's sword forced its way through them. Slamming his left into the church cannon's shaft he aimed at its hip, the rifled projectile destroying what was left of it.

Looking down at the cowering figure, he stood up with the Scythe blade in one hand, and his Beastcutter in the other. he dashed closer to the creature and brought his Beastcutter down on its head with enough strength to partially brake vertebrae near the beasts head and slam the blade into the large opening in the mask. Letting out a final wailing shriek, it collapsed and started do disintegrate in the same way as his former Mentor.

The hunter stood dazed in front of the Great ones withering corpse as he felt its blood echoes enter him. He felt a surge of emotions wash over him, he did it ,He finally ended the standing dumbstruck at the landslide of emotions he felt after killing the Great one ,which hosted the nightmare, the echoes entered him and letting him fall over backwards ,they screamed in his mind ,his body felt cold and like it tried to tear itself apart from inside to give place to something bigger ,something else and not himself. hastily drinking a sedative, his mind cleared up long enough for him to realize what was happening, the echoes or something that his prey left behind tried to turn him into one of them and make him take its place.

The sedative stopped working and the voices came back, louder and more prominent than before, he clutched his head, trying to fight back the voices and the feeling of his body attempting to break itself felt like centuries to him, laying there and fighting over his own being, the voices slowly getting more hushed and finally died away.

He slowly stood up and swayed back and forth as he took in the newly revealed scenery above him he took of his hat and used his sleeve to wipe away the sweat that coated his face.

"This better be the only cuffing, cunting Great one that has the ability to disable the blood..."

"Good hunter is there something in which I could aid you?"

"yes, firstly please be so kind and take these echoes, they were wreaking havoc in my mind "

"of course. Let the echoes become your strength. Let me stand close and shut your eyes"

the hunter knelt down, as he already did many times and concentrated on the echoes flowing through his veins. Gehrman's memories showed him how Yahrnam crumbled into its current pitiful state, how the hunters came to be, his budding romance with Maria, and the trade with Odeon and the Creature from before.

"thank you, doll. Now would you mind telling me what the fuck's going on here"

"please refrain from cursing in my presence " the doll never liked it when he cussed.

"I'm very sorry, I just slip up sometimes when I have to kill my mentor and a great one inside the sanctuary of the dream,the only place where I thought I didn't have to fight" He sighed.

* * *

It has been 'weeks' since Flora, the Moon presence fell (the doll had later told the hunter its name) but nothing changed. It confused both the hunter and doll. The other nightmares stopped after killing the host, but the Hunter's dream stayed along with Yahrnam and all of its sickly beast and Horrors.

And as the hunt continued, so did the Hunter, fighting through the city and its tombs.

Those who were still sane and in their homes, listening to the screams of the unlucky few that didn't make it to their homes or a place to hide as they pleaded to be let in.

An old man heard someone banging on his door, hoping to find shelter.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you in. I don't know if you are still one of us, or one of them."

"Please, I'm begging you . Let me in ,I'm still human"

the breathing on the outside of the door started to get ragged as the banging stopped.

"are you hurt ?"

"yes, but I'm fine, please..."

the voice grew quieter while talking. then the banging began anew, more frantic this time.

"GOD DAMMIT let me in! there is a hunter is coming this way"

" I can't, I won't risk my family for your life, so piss off."

the old man witnessed many hunts, but it never became easier to send those away who were stuck outside. He heard sobbing as the banging grew weaker till it stopped and a slow metallic clicking could be heard as plated boots hit the street, stopping in front of the doorstep.

The hunter turned to the sobbing and wounded man, lying in a house entrance.

knowing what will happen to the wounded, the hunter put away his gun and gripped the man's collar to pull him away and don't attract any beasts to the house. The sobbing grew louder as the man was pulled onto the street and didn't made an attempt to fight his captor as he layed him down on the side of the road.

The hunter took a last look at the sobbing man and plunged the burial blade into his head, ending his life quickly. The old man witnessed the whole scene through a crack in a wall and saw the hunter light a Molotov and threw it on the killed man, then he resumed to walk the street, like nothing happened.

* * *

The hunter sat next to the stairs and leaned his back on the simple stone altar of the Workshop,reading one of the most popular books in Yahrnam,as the doll came in.

"Hello, good hunter. Would you like a cup of tea?"

Keeping one of his fingers on the current page and closing the book, the hunter looked at the doll.

"yes, thank you "

Filling a kettle with water and placing it inside of the fireplace, the doll looked over to the hunter, and saw the book he read _'How to pick up fair maidens'_

"I never thought you were interested in such matters " the doll's lips were graced with a smile as she pointed at his book.

"well, after finding it in almost every house, I wanted to see why it was so popular"

As the talked, a messenger appeared holding something. Putting his book away and facing the messenger as he/she/it ( he never knew if they even had a gender and definitely didn't want to check ) handed him a white emblem, showing two crossed axes inside a circle, consisting of a thin line and two ears of wheat starting shortly behind the handle and stopping short of reaching the blade.

He patted its head.

"Cheers"

The small, pale skinned figure let out something that seemed to be a happy gurgle and disappeared into the floor, the hunter couldn't say that he ever saw the emblem handed to him, neither did the doll nor the birdbath-Messenger.

Walking around the Workshop he saw that one of the Chalice tombstones changed as it had the same symbol embedded on it and looked like a polished grey stone instead of its former design, which was old and run down, but still showed some ornamental lines. he looked at the tombstone as there was a new name carved into it.

 _'Remnant: Vale'_

 _'Emerald forest'_

The hunter went back into the workshop, and started to equip himself while the doll looked a bit puzzled.

"Have you ever 'eard of a place called Remnant?" the hunter hoped that she knew something , after his time in Yahrnam he hated not knowing where he should go and what awaits him there.

"I'm afraid not, why are you asking and what is Remnant? "the hunter took a shoulder bag and filled it with additional ammunition, vials ,bolt and fire papers, some Molotovs ,throwing knives ,antidotes and a couple of beast blood pellets along with a few hunter marks. Strapped the Beastcutter to his left leg and sheathed the blade of mercy under his duster coat.

"The only thing I know is that the dream is connected, hopefully the blood and the Great ones didn't reach them yet" as he strapped the bag to his side, he hoped that the new place wasn't as far gone as Yahrnam. He strapped the Burial blades stock to his back and gripped the blade with his right, and his stock-less double-barrelled shotgun with his left.

The hunter crouched down in front of the newly changed tombstone and touched its surface. As soon as his hand came against the stone, black smoke started to envelop the hunter and pull him into the ground.

* * *

The sound of chirping birds along with lush green trees and a shining sun greeted the hunter. Blinking and taking his time to adapt to his new invorment,he looked around for any hazards but, much in his delight, found none.

Thinking there was something off about his surroundings he held up an hand to shield his eyes from the sun-rays...wait what? Looking up there was the Sun crawling to its zenith , far brighter than remembered but after getting accustomed to the nice warm sensation he began to search the woods for any form of life ,beast or human.

On his way through the woods he enjoyed being surrounded by something else than a decrepit city full of blood hungry beasts and other living horrors. stopping next to a small stream of cold water , at which he settled down for a while. After a couple of hours of searching anybody he heard a yelp , and switched from strolling to trained killer in an instant ,he zeroed in on a clearing with two children, a younger boy and a older girl ,with what looked like animalistic ears atop their heads,the boy held his knee . The hunter searched for any signs of beasthood , not sure if their ears were an indication. Both of them had light brown hair , the boy had grey eyes , which contrasted the girls light blue eyes

"Told'ya to watch out Conall " the girl seated herself next to the boy and layed her hands ontop of his.

"Here , let me take a look " The boy , apparently named Conall faced the older girl who seemed to be slightly worried.

"I'm alright Sophia , its probably just a scratch" he flinched slightly as her hands left his knee that was covered by a dark brown pant leg.

"Yeah yeah" Sophia stood up and held her hand out to Conall " you coming ? Mum and Dad said we should be back soon"

Conall took her hand and lifted himself to his feet "Right , they said that grimm were near the Village"

Hearing a metallic click , the two kids turned to the source of the sound. Walking towards them was a tall figure , his face was hidden behind a tricorned hat and a scarf that was pulled up , leaving only the eyes to be seen , Two Dark red orbs with grey-golden spots traced their every move. He wore a Brownish grey duster coat ,over which a belt was strapped from his right side to his left shoulder it had small straps of leather that held about ten silvery-red cylinders. Under the coat were more belts , three crossing the torso left to right , one that mirrored the one that was on-top the coat and two hanging on his hips in an X-pattern the belts held more of the cylinders along with thin hilts poking out beneath the coat and vials of reddish liquid.

A club like weapon with saw like teeth was on the left side of his hip secured by one of the belts. The man's pants were grey and reaching to his knees, as long metal plated leather boots over-layered them. The clicking sound came from the gun in his left, two barrels stacked atop each other , decorated with finely carved dark wood under the barrels that stopped two thirds along the barrel which had a length of close to half a meter. The guns grip couldn't be seen as a plated glove gripped the gun, a finger on the trigger. The other hand held a long curved sword with a strong taper and a cavity close to the hilt. Few parts of his clothing actually looked like they fit him.

Conall placed himself between the Man and Sophia,both of the Children were clearly afraid.

" Calm down , I don't mean any harm to you " The man tried to reassure that he didn't want to do any harm, after seeing that they still were sane.

" Sophi ,Conall Were are you ?" the voice of a woman rang through the woods, and a man stepped into the clearing , he stood at about 1,80 meters tall . He, just like the children ,had ears on his head which had the same dark brown colour as his hair and beard . He wore dark blue Jeans , a grey and red checked black shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and khaki boots. His skin had a healty tan.

" I found them " the man yelled back and came to face the unknown man " And who are you ?"

" Graham Himura ,hunter of hunters and beasts, pleasure to meet you" the man had a rather rough and deep voice, along with an accent none of the other three ever heard.

"may I ask why you have two cat-like ears on your head ?" while being glad that all three of them seemed to be sane, he didn't drop his guard as he watched every move they made for signs of aggression or bloodlust.

The man's expression darkened a bit " Why are you asking? " . Graham replied, matter-of-factly "I've never seen someone like you"

"that's odd, where are you from?" the man's expression changed from slight anger to a mix of confusion and astonishment , green eyes wandering away from Graham's weapons and stopped on his masked face.

"Yahrnam" Graham sneered as he saw the children slowly walk behind the man.

"I never heard of it, and you said you are a Hunter?"

"Then count yourself lucky, and yes I am a hunter. Now would you be so nice and offer me the same courtesy as I did and please answer my question , what's up with those ears?"

"Oh, right. We are fox faunus, which means that we got these" he moved his ears around " what are faunus? " the man was confused by Graham's lacking knowledge of something so basic.

"do you want the short or the long version ?"

"I would prefer a briefer one" If he still had questions , he surely could find a book about their history and some in-detail descriptions.

" Were almost the same as humans safe for some exceptions, like heightened senses and, depending on the species we got an extra pair of ears, horns, tails or something else. But get discriminated by some Humans"

" seems reasonably idiotic , but mind giving me some background to the situation ?" wondering why someone would ostracise them for that, he heard leaves rustle as a woman emerged onto the now rather lively clearing and stood a couple of meter away from her family and a weirdly clad stranger that was armed to the teeth and brought his arm up without looking at what he aimed. The tension between the five of them skyrocketed at that.

" OI, stop aiming at her, she's my wife " the man shouted and covered the eyes of his children.

Graham let the gun fall to his side again after eyeing her for weapons " Sorry for that, force of habit "

 _'Force of habit ?! What the hell is wrong with you'_ The man looked at the newly arrived woman. She wore a white top overlayered by a grey vest,Black cargo-pants and long leather boots reaching to the middle of her shins. Her brown hair was lighter in tone than the man's.

" Hey Kate, could you please take the kids and get out of here " after seeing how calm Graham was, moments after almost shot his wife the man grew extremely suspicious of the armed stranger, even more then after hearing the title he introduced himself with, Hunter of Hunters.

" Why don't we all calm down " Kate smiled at the stranger, lively blue eyes locking with cold red orbs, in hope that he would listen to her.

 _' How can you be so calm '_ the man knew that his wife had nerves of steel , but was surprised by her once again.

"That depends ,are you awaiting more company?" Graham heard a low growl going through the forest . Kate and her husband strained their ears and caught the sound of claws scraping the earth.

Before they could warn the stranger or start running , a black figure jumped at Graham only to get thrown back into the woods by a gunshot that tore off its head. from the bushes and leaves surrounding the clearing , many pairs of red glowing eyes lit up and black creatures emerged from the forest.

eight smaller wolves standing on their hind-legs , bodies clad in black fur , with spikes on their backs and legs and a mask that had the same colour as bones. Three larger beasts appeared in front of Graham , behind the man and the two children, two had plates, in a way similar to the wolves, but looked more like bears. The big creature in the middle reminded Graham of one of Yahrnam's Werewolves, only larger and having radiating red eyes ,along with a bone-like mask and spikes growing all over his body.

The smaller wolves snarled and had saliva dripping from their jaws as they slowly circled the five people.

Aiming behind himself and tearing another wolf's head to shreds with a shower of pellets " Run ,I don't want that any of you get hurt" , the four looked at Graham nodded and ran while hoping that he would make it out alive.

Graham flipped open his gun ,letting the cartridges fall to the ground and put new ones into the chambers. He waited for the wolves to make a move , this time two jumped at him one on his front right and one behind him, time slowed down as they flew towards him . Stepping to his left and letting the wolf reach his former spot he cut downwards with the burial blade ,and by that cutting the wolve in half at the stomach. As the second wolf was closing in on him he slammed his sword's handle into the wooden contraption on his back , which snapped to full length and transformed the curved sword into a scythe and kicked his attacker in the face and made him fly back into his companions .Graham shot forward and swung his weapon through the two colliding wolves.

After that he jumped from beast to beast ,his scythe tearing through their bodies easily , the two larger bears were slower than the wolves and as one swept its claws at the blur that was killing the wolves only to find its head to fall from his shoulders. The second bear swept at the hunter , who dodged the swipe by bending his body forward while the scythe was struck through the last remaining small wolf and pinned it to a tree. As the bear noticed that it missed ,it tried to pull back its arm ,only to find a plated glove hold it in place and a fist hitting its elbow ,breaking it and pushing the bone out of the forearm ,Graham twisted the bear's arm around fully ,almost ripping it off while swiping it of its feet and rammed the arm into the beasts torso and hit it on the clawed hand, letting the bone puncture its heart ,killing it.

The large Werewolf lunged at Graham only to fly right into a cloud of metal shards ,ripping through its left eye and making it drop before reaching its intended target , who's hand shot forward and embedded itself in the wolf's head and tore out a chunk of its brain.

Graham pulled the burial blade out of the tree and saw how the beasts started to dissipate into black flakes. Hoping that the four 'Faunus' were okay, the word still sounding odd to him he started running in the direction they fled in.

* * *

 **Added after the release of ch.4 [AN Hello again, just a rework of the parts I was dissatisfied with as a heads up that this story is very much alive]**


	2. Chapter 2

"you think he's alright?" Kate asked Neil , slightly out of breath, who was a few meters away , leaning against the corner of a stone House and panting.

Neil straightened his body and looked up ,to the shining sun and a bird's silhouette circling througth the sky above them "I guess, he was very calm about the whole situation and he claimed to be a hunter."

Sophia mumbled as she searched the pockets of her sweatshirt and cargopants.

"where is it?... where did I put it?..."

concerned that his daughter was hurt , Neil quickly crouched down next to her "Hey Soph' ,are you hurt ?"

"No , but i tried to take one of the shells Graham dropped and i can't find it" Sophia faced Neil, looking slightly dishevelled.

Smiling softly , Neil stroked her hair "dont worry ,we gonna find it"

a tall man stood ontop the wall. His dark skin contrasting against his white hair and ram horns atop his head, He wore a olive chestrig over body armor and brown-green camo clothes

"Hey Neil ,you said that the guy that saved you wore a duster , tricorned hat and looked like a walking armory , right?" the man put down his binoculars but remained in the same position , facing away from them and towards the outside

"yeah?" wondering why the guard asked him , the fox faunus turned to face him

"found him"

rushing up the stairs leading up the wall , Neil looked outside , searching for Graham. He stopped about thirty meters away from the wall , weapons in hand.

"Its him, let him in"

Neil thought that Graham heard him , as he sheathed his sword , but trashed the thought as he opened his gun and switched one of the bullets with another one , the only difference was a bit of cloth wrapped hunter gripped the gun with his right and held it towards the sun.

"Is that some kind of peace sign?" Ivory raised an eyebrow at Neil

"Dunn-" a shot rang out , the bullet whistling throught the air , in the direction of the birds sillouette

both men ducked behind the sandbags ontop of the outer village wall , Ivory shooting an angered look at Neil "I'll take that as a no"

While the guard readied his MR-C rifle ,Neil crouched next to him , confused at Grahams behavior, first he saved him and his family and then he opens fire at them? That didnt make any sense. While Neil wondered what his reason was, Graham switched his gun back to his left hand as he took out his Beastcutter and activated the whip version ,as he focused on the birds coming his way, growing in size as he came closer.

Looking up , Neil saw a massive Nevermore with a wingspan of over eight meters fly in Grahams direction. Neil and Ivory sprung up to their feet , only to hear a second shot ring out and hit the Nevermore in the face, making it lose its balance a bit.

Graham stepped forward and swung down the beastcutter with full force as the Massive bird was flying right over him , two or three meters off the ground.

Ivory saw how the club seperated itself into large chunks , held together by a steel cable and tore throught the Nevermore, its speed pushing it into the saw-like teeth.

The beastcutter slammed into the ground as the Nevermores body flew over him , biseceted from head to tail and both halves slid over the road behind him.

with the Nevermore's dark blood forming an arc above the hunter,he reverted the Beastcutter into its normal form and began walking towards the village walls at the gate and looking up to the two men ontop the wall ,Graham sheathed his weapons.

Tipping his hat ,Graham stood about a meter infront of the wall

"Hello Neil ,Are you and your familiy unharmed?"

Neil shifted his view from the dissolving Nevermore to the hunter looking at him "yes , and thanks for that"

"I'm just glad to hear that" Graham nodded ,turned around and began to walk away from the village only to stop dead in his track as the other man began speaking

"What the hell?... Grimm don't bleed , how and why did you do that?"

The hunter turned around his head to face the men "Well... I don't know , I'm used to the beasts bleeding and why do you want to know why I killed it?"

"So ,is that your Semblance?"

"Beg pardon?"asked a baffled Graham

"Your special ability" Ivory looked into the hunters face , his expression unchainging "The manifestation of your soul as an aspect"

"No I doubt that "a grim chuckle escaped his lips "but, it would be fitting "

"okayy... mind me asking if you have a mission right now? and if not , mind helping us out? our village could use a Huntsmen's assistance"

after Ivory asked for Graham's help it felt like the temperature dropped .Graham's red eyes were dull , allmost empty and what little emotion faced was Hatred and fear.

Ivory recoiled , the eyes that seconds ago looked at him confused , now stared him down with a utterly terrifing glare. " **WhAt**.d **o**. ** **y**** **oU** ** **Me**** **an?"** while speaking , his voice ceased to sound human and came out far darker

Neil saw how Ivory recoiled and tried to defuse the situation "Yeah .the frequency of grimm attacks tripled over the last couple of months"

An instant later, Graham eyes returned to a calculating gaze and his voice returned to its normal tone "I'll take care of it"

Snapping out of the fear that he felt after looking at Graham , Ivory was unsure how to talk to him

"While its nice to hear that you are willing to help ,we can't afford to pay you" Ivory scowled as he regained his composure , they had hoped for weeks that a hunter would come by to assist them , they asked Beacon for help but nobody came. Now there was a Hunter in front of them but they could'nt afford to pay him . He didn't know how much longer they could hold their own with the rising number of attacks.

"Payment isn't something you have to worry about. As said , I am a hunter, getting paid is far down the list of priorities" Graham turned his head to look towards the woods and wanted to go his way only to stop again as Neil shouted his way

"You serious? do you want anything else or what?"

"Yes I am , and well while it would be nice to have some books but they're pretty expensive so... no"

Both men looked dumbfounded

"Any special topics?" Ivory quickly pulled out his scroll and texted another guard to go to the libary

"If its possible then History ,both about the world and its occupants, so Faunus and Humans , with a stronger focus on Faunus. And medicine"

After sending the hunter's book topics to the guard in the libary ,Ivory looked up from his scroll "Why do you want to know more about Faunus?"

"Because they're new to me, and the only knowlegde I have is the very brief summary Neil told me"

"Thats weird , but eh ,at least you want to know more"

after that, a silence settled in which was dissrupted when the sound of someone running to them could be heard.

"Oi Ivory ,catch" Graham only saw how a bag was flung towards the horned man, who fumbled with the bag for a second before getting a good hold of it.A kid's voice could be heard ,albeit muffled throught the defensive wall "Dad, who're you talking with?"

Neil turned towards the voices source"its Graham, should i ask him about the casing?"

Seeing Sophia nod , he briefly faced the hunter "mind giving me a shell casing?, Sophia really liked the look of 'em" Graham opened his gun and threw one of the empty cartridges to Neil who thanked him after catching the shell and showing it to his daughter

"Here ya go" Ivory bend over the wall and held the bag of books out to Graham, who came closer to take the bag out of Ivory's hand "Thank you...- " "oh, its Ivory Wolmark" " - Mr. Wolmark"

"With your part fullfilled , I will take care of these Beasts" Graham slung the small duffel bag over his shoulder ,earning a confused look from Neil

"Why dont you calm down first, want something to eat?"

"I'm fine, I'll dispatch of the Beasts as fast as possible" Graham began to run away from the village , only to rotate his body to catch what appeared to be a small metal box in the dimensions of a brick ,painted black and had a appendage reminicent of an antenna "Here's a radio to stay in contact" Graham looked at Ivory, at the 'radio' in his had and back at Ivory. Shrugging his shoulders, he dissapeared into the thick foilage.

"He's an odd one" Neil turned away from the wall and walked down the stair to his daughter , to which he handed the casing.

Thanking the guard , Ivory resumed watching the forest "from what I've heard , there are no 'normal' huntsmen"

"But he seems nice" Sophia said offhandedly as she was amazed by the details on the coloured outside of the shell , which ranged from a yellowish bronze over traces of dark purple into deep shades of blue and scorch marks on the tip. it depicted multiple huntsmen ,One reminicent of a crow who stood next to a figure that looked like Graham.

A woman wielding a saber stood facing a figure with a mask hiding the upper half of his head.

The last two were facing each other, a hunter holding a large weel and standing opposite of a figure who's head was hidden behind a metal mask with an cape like that of the crow. on the bottom of the casing there was the picture of a Monstrosity with tentacles growing out behind it's slitted mask.

the casing still had some warmth.

Ivory sighed as he stood atop the wall , looking over the fading Nevermore's body into the woods , as his radio sprung to life _"Wolmark , Herring here , your shift is over so come back to the Tower. And the mayor wanted to have a word with you , do you copy?"_

While letting out a glad sigh that turned into lesser happy tunes at the mention of having to meet the authorities he reached for his radio _"Wolmark copies"_ and left as he saw another guard come his way

* * *

As he headed for the tower, located in the city center next to a lovley little inn he'd be shure to visit later, Ivory slowed down to spend more time strolling between the old stone buildings. Their stones showing marks of the rising Grimm populance and why they were here, to make sure that those were the only signs of the 'beasts' as the newly met headache-to-come Graham called them.

He arrived at the tower after roughly ten minutes, and with another sigh , he made his way into the old guard tower that was their BoP (Base of operations) for the time being and headed up the tower , past the barracks on the bottom , the armory over them and into the Command center on the second floor.

Ivory sat down on one of three empty desks in the middle of the large room , in which you had barely enough space for two people walking next to each other as the area was cluttered with tabels and equipment for the Coms.

"So? What did you do this time? " a voice accommpanied by a mug of hot coffee settling on the desk before him came from behind

proping his right arm on the chair's backrest , he turned his head to find a familiar face plopping into the chair next to his own , another mug in hand.

" I met a guy who almost shot me , asked me for some books and and tore a bloody nevermore in half "

Streched his arms and let the popping joints fill the short silence as his friend took in the information , he took a good look at his mate , Communications Staff Sergeant Matthew Herring , a bear faunus with a quite normal looking frame standing at 1,87 m tall with short black hair , they first met while in basic training and later after Ivory came back into base on his thrid deployment , and they discovered that he was the units new Observer , their source of information and eye in the sky.

"... sooo you didnt play golf with old v40 minis,... again?"

"Oi, that was Avril . Why does everybody think I did that?"

Taking a sip from his mug , Ivory's shoulders dropped for a second

"Well , you got yelled at in the end , and we all heard it. Maybe even the whole city.. even when I think about it , my ears start to ring"

The bear-faunus spun his officechairs backrest around and propped his elbows ontop of it , his mug half empty.

"The only things I remember are carring her into the barraks after she walked two meters and smacked into four buildings , and getting yelled at in the morning , but my god she was absolutely piss-drunk"

"The mayor?" matthew looked at his colleague and raised an eyebrow with his mouth having a massive grin plastered on

"yeah sure , you tit"

as both of them laughed at the thought of the mayor doing so much as touching any alcohol , Ivory wondered where she was

"On that topic , didn't ya say that she wanted to yell, ahem talk , at/to me?"

Herring looked towards the entrance, sighed and stood up

"yeah , and she just came in , 'nother one?"

drinking the last bit of coffee , he gave his cup to his mate

"sure , thanks a bunch"

both mugs in one hand , Matthew chuckled and went towards the coffeemachine

"no bigge, just please keep it down this time"

smiling at the figures back , he replied "oh shut it " and stood up ,turned to the advancing women , the mayor.

She was dressed in her usual , very formal attire , consisting of a white dress shirt , a black jacket ,a black pencil skirt and nice but uncomftable looking shoes **(A/N : I have no clue about shoes )** Her red-ish maroon hair was up in a inverted braid , contradicting her fairly pale complexity

"Hello miss Rowey"

Green eyes scanned him from behind the thin grey frame of her glasses "Mr. Wolmark, please sit down"

"Sure, and I'm certain that you want to talk about the guy I met, right?"

"thats correct , so who was that?"

"he introduced himself as Graham Himura , not to me but Neil Gardner . Apparently he titled himself Hunter of hunters and beasts , so I'm not quite sure if he wont come here again to add 'and faunus' " Ivory saw a hand carring a mug enter his perifial vision and turned his head to see the comms staff hold up a cup of steaming hot coffee "Thanks mate"

"Lets hope that thats just a thought , but he didn't speak to you ?" Miss Rowey chimed in

"He did , and made a contract , he got a couple of books and he promised to take care of grimm in the Forest"

"did it occur to you that he lied and just stole a couple of books?"

"Yes it did , briefly , but from what I could tell , he cared less about his payment and more about fighting. besides that , if he wanted to rob us , he just could've asked for an advanced payment and then leg it , not for some books"

"can you contact him ?"

"Yes, I gave him one of our partol radios"

Ivory turned towards Matthew , who sat on his seat , facing a buch of monitors "could you open a channel , frequency is 68.2"

"sure" a window poped up on one of the monitors and displayed the said numbers

After thanking Herring he turned back towards the mayor "there you go , it should be connected to this tables mikrophone"

"Hello?"

 _"..."_ The Speakers stayed completely quiet

"Hang on "Ivory held his hand up towards the mayor in a stopping gesture "There's a big button on the left side , press it , then speak"

shortly after that a crackling could be heard before the speakers on the table sprang to life and gave out the dark, gravely sound of Garahams voice

 _" 'ello , can you hear me now?"_

"Yes, loud and clear"

A sigh came throught the radio before the hunter spoke up again _"Why did you decide to contact me ,I am holding my end of the bargain up ,so there shouldn't be any need to reach out to me "_

the mayor piped up "We called you for that exact reason , I , the cities mayor would like to make an offical contract in case of any complications and to let this be put into your file"

the Rustling of leaves coming throught the old-military issue radio was followed by Graham speaking with a hint of confusion and annoyance in his voice _"Why should you want that ? There's no reason to establish any form of written agreement over such a thing . Oh and , miss mayor , may i know your name since I guess you're already aware of mine"_

Rowey began to grow weary of the hunter who seemed to dread any from of conformation "Oh , I'm sorry , my name is Priscilla Rowey. And the documentaion of your actions should be registered in your reports ,so may I ask why you are against it so strongly ?"

 _"Apart from being a pointless waste of time , the fact that I can barely write and came here this morning should be good enough reasons to keep this unoffical"_

Both the mayor and Ivory were stunned at the confession .The guard was quicker to make his confusion audilbe "are you kidding ? How did you manage to get throught one of the four academies without writing ?"

Graham voice still sounded confused , but now the barest hint of embarrassment made itself known _"what are you on about? Which academies , the only one I know of would be the school of mensis which I'd never consider a ground for knowlegde. And I never was propely schooled"_

After Priscilla regained her composure she lifted her glasses and pinced her nose in frustration "let me get this straight , you never were in any kind of education system?" a affirmative grunt rang throught the speakers " and you dont know how to write?" _"not exactly , I can write , just not very fluent "_ " and you claim to be a hunter , that asked for books as payment? Books which i assume had text in them?"

a second later ,as the voice came out the radio again , it was devoid of emotion _"I dont 'claim' to be one , I am a hunter and believe me , not one you want to see in action. And yes I asked for books, I said that i cant write much , but I am quite the bookworm. Hunters fight beasts , not essays so there never was any need to be teached"_

"I think our dear Ozpin sees that matter very different" Ivory emptied his second mug of coffee and began to retrieve his scroll from the plate carrier he still had strapped to his torso. After fishing out the small metal plate , he opened his contacts and searched for 'Ozzy' , the man who brought him into Vale and started to type a message conveying his newest encounter with a hunter

 _"and who'd that might be?"_

"Where the hell were you raised? Azaroth?" **[1]** Priscilla slowley began to feel an incoming headace from the complete obliviusness of the apparently _very_ foreign hunter

 _"No, wherever that might be ,but it sounds like one of the surrounding counties. I dont remember much from my childhood , but I know that I was born and raised in the hinterlands before living in world's end , and subsequently its capital , Yahrnam the City of blood"_

Ivory put his scroll down after the long text was send to Opzin and chimed in "why does everything there already sound grey and broody? Couldnt it be named not quite as edgy?"

 _"Directly next to world's end , there were Workeystair,Daler,the northern lands , which for some odd reason was the most south county and Wookie"_

"Wookie? Are shitting me? Why did they name it after those big fluffy things" the Ram faunus was completely baffled and had a hard time not grinning , before remembering that Graham could'nt see him and his mouth's corners made their way upwards fast

 _"uhrg... wot? I never heard of anything being called a wookie baring the peopole from there , and some of 'em may be bearded but 'fluffy'? 'com'on"_

After overcoming her inital suprise of the Hunters complete lack of Knowlegde about Remnant , she wanted to get him inside the village , contract in the back of her mind "Were are getting extremly off topic , Mr. Himura , when could you be back in Sovstgarde? I would like to at least talk this out with you eye to eye"

 _"I'd estimate one or two hours, but I still am requested to fight these beasts , so I'll return in a couple o' days"_

"Thats sounds acceptable , please use the radio to notify the guards if you're near the Village and ask them to contact me"

 _"all'ight, farewell"_

The snapping of twigs acommpanied by the rustling of leaves wispered throught the desk's speakers

Ivory sighed and got closer to the mikrophone "You can stop pushing the button use it when just want to talk"

and the rustling stopped.

"For god's sake"

* * *

Ozpin's eyes darted between his scroll and the montors infront him as he watched a figure in a tricorned hat shot throught the emerald forest. The apparent hunter called 'Graham' allready had some encounters with Grimm , which didn't last long as his movements reminded him more of a ghost or whisp than a hunter or human , but a pretty big ghost of over two meters with a pretty broad build hefting around a arsenal of arms.

Swirling his cup , he called out to his secretary with little hope that she found anything about any of the mentioned places or Graham himself .Sadly her search brought forth nothing exept the picture of a Wookie holding a surfboard witch now was set as her scroll's background.

"Glynda, please inform the students of team RBWY and JNPR that they should find themself in my office as soon as possible"

"Ozpin , why are you taking them? sure the hunter didn't seem very dangerous while talking , but he still called himself 'Hunter of hunters' and you want to take two teams of first years , while combat-experienced , they are still very young, to take on a potential psychopath?"

"I can understand your concern for the safety of your, our pupils , but I have faith in them , and to make sure that you can sleep well , you will be accompaying us"

after letting her head fall forward and mumble something about revenge, Glynda took a deep breath and raised her head to glare at Ozpin "You wanted to take me with you from the start , right?"

"You know me so well" Smiling and raising his mug to Glynda ,he never got bored at poking at her.

* * *

3 Weeks later , Sovstgarde

Ivory sighed as he , once again saw Graham sleep right next to one of the gates ,at noon.

Since the hunter came , things changed. The cities trade routes were a lot safer now and the mood lightened noticeably.

Standing a couple of meters away from the dozing figure , he picked up a small pebble and threw it towards Graham , who , as soon as the tiny stone hit his hat , sprang to life , drawing a worn out looking revolver from a hoster on his right knee and aiming straight at Ivory. As he recognised the man , he stored the gun away again

"Mornin' "

looking up into the sky , towards the sun , and back down at the hunter , Ivory smiled as he walked up to him and sat close next to him . Graham's only reaction was to grip one of the knifehilts sticking out under his coat

" Morning , here ,breakfast you twichy bastard" he handed him the picknick basket he carried.

removing his hand from the knife , he raised an eyebrow at the guard "Uh... much obliged"

"dont thank me, its a gift from Neil and Kate , together with an inivtation to dinner"

resting his arms on his cocked legs , the hunter responded "Please give them my deepest gratitude , and tell them that I'll try to make it one day"

snorting , Ivory started to inspect the basket's content "Nope, You'll do that, you cant just pop into the city every couple of days , collapse against next to the nearest soild object and then run out again. They are worried , like anybody that knows you here , 'cause if you keep this up you'll die for sure"

standing up and streching himself , Graham looked down to the guard picking apart the crates content "I beg to differ , it takes a lot more for me to drop"

the guard sighed and held out a pack of sandwiches towards the hunter, which he took and stored in his bag "what makes you so sure? You're a hunter , but that doesnt mean you can ignore sleep-deprevation and malnourishment, you arent Immortal"

Graham let out a grimm chuckle , drew his shotgun and aimed at his own head "Wanna bet?"

"For Oum's sake, stop it you friggin' nutcase " Ivory paled as the hunter scraced his cheek with the guns barrel

holstering the rifle , he made his way up the wall "dont ask , if you dont want to be proven wrong , well , pariatallly wrong"

"Oh, man you're a fucking plainwreck .Wont you at least try making it to dinner or even eat in company " sighing , Ivory stood up , tossed a bottle of some kind of juice towards the hunter and started making his way back into the city

The last thing he heard was a very clear "no" before the hunter jumped over the sandbags ontop of the wall and the sound of rustling bushes

* * *

 **[1]: This phrase may seem familar ,** **if** **you watch a certain video game critic who doesnt seem to breathe , judging by the way he never pauses**

 **It's done , Chapter 2 , bugger me it's been a while and**

 **To make the explanation for my absence short , shit happened in me life**

 **anyway ,I'm really happy about how well this story was recieved** ^^

 **now onwards to the reviews**

 **Commissar Carl &joshualk98(concerning the spelling): I hope I fixed most grammar mistakes in Ch 1. and so please make me aware if I missed any and changed the formating a bit to prevent large blocks of thanks to the both of you **

**doughxDude87: Thank you for the praise**

 **TheNightstriker: thanks and sorry for the long wait** ^^, **I hope you liked the chapter**

 **Now , the title change : I find the new title far more firring for the message I want to convey , so ... yeah , thats the whole reason.**

 **I'll try to bring the next chapter out much quicker**

 **But for now I'll nibble on a brownie and try to get some sleep (It's about 2 am right now)**

 **Till next time , dear Reader**

 **Sincerely ,Darth daver \\[T]/**


	3. A hunter meets his kind

**Merry christmas.**

* * *

"So, how is our new aquciantance? Uh, Glyna?" stepping into his office , Ozpin made his way towards Glynda, who sat at her desk facing multiple monitors showing the Emerald Forest.

The deputy-headmistress clasped a hand over her mouth as she looked pale and ready to hurl "He just. Ate. A. Pidgeon..."

The Headmaster staggered for a second before asking "I'm not sure I've heard that correctly, he did what ?"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself and keep her breakfast where it belonged, she turned to Ozpin " you've heard me , he snatched it from a tree and devoured it in two bites... I think I'm gonna puke"

"So he seems to get worse with every day. Maybe it's time to finally say hello. Ivory informed me of his routine, which would suggest that he'd be at Sovstgarde tonight or tomorrow morning, so please inform miss Rose and mister Arc of their new mission"

"I still think its a mistake to take them with you , that hunter is sick , mentally and probably physically. We should be prepared that he'll meet us with aggression."

"I know Glynda , I know... I just hope that he'll cooperate or at least be neutral, having him as an ally seems far more beneficial than fighting him." Ozpin took a sip out of his ever present mug.

"If I'm honest, I don't know what will happen when we meet. The given information made Graham out as a Psychopat, who got it inside his head that he's immortal." the headmaster walked towards the window behind his desk, he let his gaze wander over the academies court, until it came to a stop over the emerald forest below the cliffs.

As Ozpin spoke up again , his voice was still as stoic and pondering as before , yet the grip on his mug increased visibly "This mission is not about meeting him as a friend, as sad as it is .It's damage control, we do not know what will happen in the future and what role he'll play. The ocurrence of grimm letting blood began after he was reported in Sovstgarde, before that there's nothing. So it could be related to him."

"then, why are you taking first years with you?" The blonde felt her anger slowly rise as the headmaster's plan involved the students , _her_ students, was likely to backfire. For her, the pidgeon-eating hunter was not someone she would let anyone get close to.

"I got my hands on every bit of information I could get, and apparently, our dear hunter has a soft spot for children so I hope that he'll be a bit more _cooperative_."

The headmistress slammed her hand on the desk infront of her and stood up sharply as she angrily adressed Ozpin "so you risk their lifes on rumors? What will you do when the meeting goes down?"

"Then I'll trust on you, team RWBY and JNPR. I also have two additional teams of third-years as a backup." The headmaster faced Glynda, his mouth was morphed into a small smile filled with uncertainty. "Let's just hope that we won't need them"

She was thrown off by the small crack in Ozpin's usual calm , confident attitude. So she just nodded before sitting down again to inform the teams of their new objective.

* * *

The chambering of Rounds was drowned out by a body impacting on the towers wall and a demonic voice yelling out.

 **"YOU DID WHAT?"** The Hunter's large frame hid the white haired guardian, who had his throat wedged between the wall and a armored arm that left him hanging above the ground, eye to eye with his captor.

"Put Ivory down, NOW!" the voice of a stocky badger-faunus boomed out as the surrounding guards aimed at the hunter pressing their colleague against the stone.

 **"He send hunters towards this village!"** Graham's head whipped around, wrath burning behind his pupils.

"And what's your feckin' problem with that aye? Scared of ye mates are ye?" **(A/N: Since I have no idea what its equivalent would be , please think of it as a scottish accent)** A female guard with her face concealed behind a boonie and a black facemask, yelled out furiously.

 **"I've seen what happens when you call hunters"** The hunter's voice became more human as he spoke "They come into the village , round up everyone they can find and turn the city into a burning mass grave"

"Are you off your god-damn meds? We've already met Ozpin , he's as tame as they get" The badger faunus argued , as he took aim on Graham's head and slowly began to squeeze his rifle's trigger half-way backwards, as he really began to doubt how stable the hunter was.

Pulling himself up enough to breathe, Ivory spoke up angrily "And you wanna know why I didn't tell one I called didn't know you, and he probably is acquaintanced with half the pepole on Remnant. Which begs the question of how you,a hunter, maganged to come here without anyone noticing? Nobody has seen your face , so tell me who you are and from where you were able to get here without leaving a trail and I'll call back Ozpin, deal?"

The guard held his breath waiting for a reaction from Graham, the wrath behind his eyes still present as he contracted his fists until he could hear the sound of metal straining to hold up against the pressure before lowering the guard until he stood on his own.

The hunter stepped back until he was an arms lenght away and let out a long breath to recompose , he looked down towards Ivory, who rubbed his hands reaching for his hat and mask he asked "Are you really sending them back?"

"Depends on what I see" Ivory anwsered truthfully while the guards surrounded Graham, who's hands dropped to his sides at the remark.

"I'll take that as a no." the hunter let his eyes wander around the streets , after what happened just now, they began to fill with life again .people strolled throught the city, going about heir business , families laughing, along with humans and faunus side by side, joking. He could only think about what will happen if the hunters arrive and find any form of the cursed crimson, even if it wasn't mentioned in the books , they had to know about it. And he was risking all of this by being here , he was tainted by the blood.

He would not let a city burn to cinders for the substance that kept him whole and standing , not _again._ For a moment he thought that the smell of blood,gunpowder and burning wood permiated the air , just as then... , yet he couldn't remember anything , as if the very memory was hidden locked of him until this very second.

Speaking up again, without showing any signs of the suprising new memory, Graham focused on Ivory "I'll leave, maybe then they lose interest before anyone comes to harm"

The hunter turned away and began walking away only to be stopped by the female guard, Raine, if he remembered correctly " 'ang on, those 'unters come to meetcha and ye try to feck off?"

His voice seemed almost hopefull as he answered "Yes, if I, the one they come here for, am gone , they'll go too."

"Didn't ye just say that they'll butcher us? now ye gonna run and what then? They will find ye massive arse ye fud." Raine sighed as she put her pistol's safety back on and stored inside her plate carrier.

"If they find me here, there will be calsualties. Facing them in the forest won't endanger anyone " the emotions in Graham's voice faded.

"So you want to face off against a unkown number of peaceful hunters? Tell me, how do you think that'll end?" The badger-faunus chimed in with mock-curiosity , as grey ears made his berret stand up a bit.

"If they dont intend to attack, neither will I. However, one wrong move and I'll re-decorate the forest." the hunter put his hands forward ,as if grabbing a swords hilt.

"So you're really a 'hunter of hunters'? Willing to kill your comerades?" The badger-faunus took out his rifle's magazine and pulled the bolt back, letting the large .300WIN MAG cartridge fall out into his hand.

"Someone has to be " a hint of sadness returned to his voice as the ground under his hands began to give way to a long ornate handle , followed by a blade ,crudely wrapped in once white cloth that now was yellow, brown and tattered.

"A'ight tha's it, are ye a feckin street mage now or wha' ? " Raine half-yelled as she pointed to the blade protracting from the street.

"I'm not some busker, it's just rather pointless to fight against armor with a sycthe" Graham spoke matter-of-factly as he took hold of the sword's hilt.

"You're build like a brick shithouse. you probably could feckin sock 'em and they fall down. And even so, a sword really? That's not much of a imprevmen'. You've got a gun ye know..." Raine's voice started to fade as she pondered over the correct weapon for the job , oblivious to the intended purpose.

"Could you stop advising him on killing Ozpin? Lad 's already fucked, he should'nt be a murderer too" The grey haired bagder slung his rifle over his shoulder , letting the sling hang over his name-patch, reading 'Leaden'

"Beg your pardon?" Graham looked at the guard , brows dissapearing under the hat with his face morphing into a puzzled expression.

"I've met chaps like you, even with the disguse you cant fully hide those scars. Been throught some shit ?" he clarified.

Holding the blade under the hilt with one hand , the hunter let his gauntlet trace the little free skin that his mask failed to conceal. "Yes..."

"And what will you do now? Even if you're gone, the hunters of Beacon still will come here. So if you're worried about us , you'll have to stay" The stocky , grey haired guard grinned at Graham.

"Then I'll prevent them from getting here. by any means necesarry" any semblance of melancolic sorrow vanished from the hunter as he formed a fist and held out the two-handed sword to Raine , who shot him a look of inquisiton to which he reacted.

"Please hold it for a bit, I'll need to put me scythe away" , she nodded slowly as the sword was placed in her hands and Graham reached for the blade and stock.

And as the hunter crouched down to let the scythe's parts sink into the street , Ivory re-joined the conversation "How about you just talk with them , crazy idea, I know but hear me out. Talking isn't prohibited by law ,while killing... well take a guess"

"And you think that's gonna stop me? I'm used to be an outlaw" Graham's gaze locked onto the guard , his eyes calm as he reclaimed the blade from Raine.

"For fucks sake ,can't any bit of your life just be nice?Please ,I beg you, tell me a single good thing that happened to you. Because I'm at the point were I doubt that you know the bloody word 'happy'. That probably would explain why you don't let anyone close and want to _murder_ your colleagues, and students. It's because you're a embittered empty shell beyond any form of repair " Ivory spat as he fixed his jacket and walked up to the large , heavily armored hunter, who kept silent throughout Ivory's accusations. "Ozpin will bring some first-years with him. Let them have some peace, not everybody has to be as miserable as you are"

The ram-faunus could see the hunter's eyes darken as he spoke. "I don't deserve to be happy, I've turned cities to embers and lost the right to be called human , just as every hunter has. So tell me? why let them be deluded? They are hunters, no matter how old they are. so why spare them a single shred of mercy?"

The guard reached up to put his hand on the massive frame "Just because you're no human doesn't mean that you have to be... such a miserable, messed up, cynic . None of us are 'human' per se and take a look around, we still smile, laugh and live. many of us did terrible things and yet , we try to move forward , because thats the only thing we can do, nobody is able to change the you have done cannot be reversed or deleted, learn to live in that knowlegde. And look forward to the peopole you can save. so please ,they're just kids for Oum's sake, cut 'em some slack"

Brushing Ivory's hand off, Graham walked away as he breathed out a warning, just loud enough for the guard to hear "There are things you cannot move on from, things that you are bound to remember no matter what you do or hope for. I've paid the price for forgetting what needs to be done to keep everybody secure and I wont make that mistake , kid's or not, if anyone gets hurt, it's our fault... mine for letting them in and your's for trusting hunters"

Biding farewell to his colleagues, Ivory sighed, moving away in the opposite direction "I know... but... they'll show you how wrong you were"

* * *

It watched those tiny specks go throught with whatever they were doing , buzzing around as the sun's light came over them , and making it themselves as their planet spun them away from the was sure that they had words for everything they did , they even made one of those for him... _Odeon_.

It never took much interest in their actions, for whatever they did vanished as quick as it came , but as one had risen up and undid [1] those who failed to transcend, like many ,it at first didn't see any difference in this fighting later It began to form a bond to that irrelevant spot in his eyes, as it made the Moon's guard undone and stayed as a speck in his vision even thought it was destined to be remade in the body of his infants.

That little speck showed it so much new things, and it was the only source of, 'amusement' as those other spots said, so It wanted to show the other specks the only interesting bit of their collective existence... that little monster that showed such weird emotions as It searched for a body that could contain his children. The spot made those little noises as fluids secrated from it's outside eyes.

Other humans should come to him, and provoke the same reaction... on this new world It chose for him...

* * *

Jaune couldn't remember if he has been happier as he is now , sitting right next to Pyrrha , her body covered in one of his fluffy Pumkin Petes sweatshirts,which was too large for her as her hand were hidden inside the sleeves and the sweater reached down onto her trained thighs that were hidden under a pair of black leggings.

"I never thought you'd say yes , and I still can't belive it"

Giggling softly , she placed her head on his shoulder and intertwined their finger "Jaune , I love you, and I'll say it as often as you want"

Leaning back against the beds headrest he opened his mouth"And I love you , but this still feels so surreal .you're Pyrrha Nikos, the kindest, strongest, smartest and most beautiful girl in Beacon and I'm just ...me"

"And thats what I like about you, you're my kind , sometimes adorably goofy knight. The one that just sees me for me , and the one that gave me things nobody ever has given me , true friends , a place where I can just be me " The red haired amazoness layed her head on his chest " Things I hold truly dear ,so being you made me fall for you, Jaune"

Jaune was at a loss of words as his face was adorned with a blush redder than his new girlfriend's hair.

Pyrrha closed her eyes , completely content with remaining like this forever . This feeling apparently was shared by her boyfriend as he snuggled closer to her.

And so they silently layed in their dorm room on this stunning winter evening, with pristine snow glimmering orange from outside as the sun set.

Until a scream shattered their peace and tore them out of their blissful state, the one turned into many , the voices were familiar so they rushed towards the door , only for it to open as a bloodied and horrified Ren came inside ,panting as he slammed the door shut behind himself.

As Jaune made a step forward , Ren suddenly spat blood and a sword protracted from his chest which made Jaune fall backwards and crawl away.

The blade retracted , before the door flew throught the room and flung their friends corpse against the windows, that stood strong against the now bleak and arctic sundown. Standing in the doorway was a silouette of almost inhuman propotions , its face was concealed by a scarf and tri-corned could only make out the scars traversing over the little visible space.

Its body was translucent, even so. the worn out trench coat was caked in blood , human blood.

Pyrrha , who stood only a short distance away from the murderer , shot forward only to stop again as the sword's pommel met her face with enough force to throw her off balance and break her nose. The ghost drew the blade forward, cutting deeply into the amazoness' torso , manuevering the handle next to his head in one fluid motion ,the Ghost stepped forward and thrusted the blade into her heart.

Jaune stood up , paralized by what he just wittnessed while mumbling as tears streamed down his face and the body of his lover fell onto the floor "nononono... come on Pyrrha , stand up , everythings is gonna be alright..."

And as he bend down to reach out to her , he was spun around to face the whisp who had a iron grip on his shoulder.

Jaune just stood there, waiting for the sword to kill him like his friends, still mumbling his lovers name, only for the Ghost let out a deep ,gravely and inhuman voice.

 **"We are born by the Blood"** the whisp rose the blade.

 **"Made men by the Blood"** the sword rested above his heart, ready to strike. Jaune looked up into the eyes of the thing , two crimson pools dotted with gold-grey streaks, portraing disgust at something...

 **"Undone by the Blood"** the blade pierced his heart.

Seconds later the figure leaned down , right next to his ear and as the life ebbed out of Jaune, he heard it's last words.

 **"Fear the old Blood ... and condemn its bearer"**

"Pyrrah..." Jaune exhaled one final time as he felt his eyelids become unbearably heavy.

* * *

 _"..ne?!"_

 _"Jaune?!"_

Jaune felt his body being shook as his name was called out.

His eyes shot open to reveal Pyrrha bend over him in a deep red woolen sweater, her hand on his cheek.

"...Pyrrha..?" he asked , still pertified at the fresh memories.

Her expression of worry morphed into relief "Yes, Jau- uwah" As Jaune pulled her into a thight hug and softly started to sob in comfort "Thank Oum , I was so scared "

Completeting the hug , the red-head nuzzled into his neck's crook "It's alright , I'm here and not leaving"

They stayed in this position for minutes while the blonde calmed down and even after he relaxed, he didn't let go of her , and she was more than fine with it.

"Do you want to tell me what happened ?"

"I-I s-s-saw you... and R-Ren get k-killed..." her only response was to hold him even closer.

"Dont worry , It just was a nightmare, we're fine" The amazoness hand's began to roam his back.

"I-I know , even so, it felt real a-and I was so unbelieveably scared" Jaune mumbled as rested his head ontop her , Pyrrah blushed as she felt a small warm wetness on her scalp. He kissed her...

As the blonde realized what he did , his face went crimson and he wanted to pull away but was held in place by her arms.

Thinking of a way to get out of this situation he opened his mouth "D-Don't we have cl-classes?"

Fighting her own blush , Pyrrha just nodded and relucantly let go.

"Then we should get going " Jaune got up and turned his face away from the amazoness to hide the redness of his cheeks.

"Yeah" standing on the other side of his bed , she dug her hands into the sweater's pockets and hoped that he wouldn't see the her , beet red and grinning like an idiot.

The messy blonde hair and subequently the rest of the knight already gripped the doorhandle only for Pyrrah to pipe in "Wait , do you really want to go out like this?"

He looked down to see him still clad in his baby blue onesie "Oh... thanks Pyrrha" he rushed to his drawer to collect his usual jeans and pumkin petes hoody along with a white t-shirt and began to change.

As silence setteld in , a akward tension rose until Jaune spoke up , his head halfway throught the sweater "Why don't you meet up with the others? I'll come as soon as I'm done"

"I dont think I should leave you alone after that nightmare" Pyrrha scratched her elbow and fixed her skirt to calm herself.

The blonde had one of his legs in his trousers as the door burst open revealing Nora grinning and in her usual hyperactive state only to look at the blushing pair , with Jaune's pants barely pulled up. She blinked once,very slowly before jumping at the red-head "Did you guys boop?"

"Uh, ah ... N-No we didn't , J-Jaune j-just had a nightmare" the amazoness stammered out , blushing in yet to be named shades of crimson.

The bounching ball of pink energy stopped as she looked at her leader with a questioning expression before tackling and bear-hugging him while yelling "Fearless Leader! You alright?"

"Nora... cant breathe , and pants ..." the hug-recipient stammered out.

The Valkyrie shot up to her feet , and grinned apologiaticly "oh, sorries. But seriously , just say something and I'll break their dream-legses"

"Thanks Nora , but I'm fine , honestly" finally pulling up his jeans, he patted her head as she released him.

A Second later , Nora was back in the doorway " Now come on , they're serving pancackes, but only five per person, so I need you help to defeat those tyrants. "

Pyrrha walked over to Jaune and offered him a hand , at which he pulled himself up, then they looked at the blubby Valkyrie "coming ". It felt as they were dragged around by their child. They followed her, still holding hands, only realizing it after they started walking and quickly seperating.

* * *

Jaune sat between Ren and Pyrrha , nibbling on a slice of toast as he tried to comprehend the words escaping Nora's mouth at inhuman levels , he only knew what she was on about as she drew a sloth riding a sheep on her pancakes with syrup and suprising accuracy, as Ruby leaned over and poked his shoulder "Jaune? You're there?"

Giving up the attempt to understand the Valkyrie , he turned towards the school-uniform clad red reaper "yeah , what's up?"

Swallowing the last remains of a cookie , Ruby yawned at Jaune before opening her eyes again "did you also get a message from Ozpin about some special mission? I hope its a couple of grimm, it would be good practice "

"I... dont think I did , but hang on" the blonde took out his scroll and looked at the messenger displaying an unread message "Nevermind , I got one too"

Skimming the brief notice Jaune sighed , it was in the evening , and that could very well mean a all-nighter. The objective was to establish contact with a village.

The blonde boy sighed and began to stab his scrambeled eggs "maybe we get permission to skip classes tomorrow "

"I hope so, I don't want to write another essay on grimm anatomy , It's always the same stuff" Ruby whined and began to chug down her cup of milk.

Jaune looked up from his plate "Wasn't that due today?"

The red-reaper's eyes went wide in shock "Shoot, I forgot". Ruby's eyes zipped around before setteling on her teammate "Weiss~? "

Pinching her nose, the heiress sighed "No Ruby ,you always forget it-" the girl in question had begun to lean in with practiced and very compelling puppy-eyes "pwease...?" huffing, Weiss turned away "-hmpf. Fine , but just this once"

"Yay~ , thanks Weiss " finishing up her meal with inhuman speed , the girl in red zoomed out of the cafetira leaving a path of rose petals on her place and in her wake.

"Is it just me , or are you extremly soft with her , I would've been iced for that" Yang spoke up.

"Because , the last time you asked was in the lession" the heiress clad in white stated.

"That's still no excuse for your _uncool_ reaction _W-ice_ queen"

A collective groan ecoed from all seats in hearing distance as Yang grinned with a content smugness.

Weiss let her head fall into her hands as she mumbled "please let classes start..."

Her wish was promptly answered as the bell rang , announcing the first lession.

* * *

After classes ended , the students of team RWBY and JNPR found themselves waiting in the lobby under Ozpin's office. The room was unexpectedly well furnished , as it probably already had seen more influencial personell than the eight huntsmen-in-training combined , meaning mostly (only) Weiss. Eight expensively furnished chairs stood in pairs of two against the walls between entrance and elevator. The pairs were divided by two small rustic coffee tables, whose dark brown tabletops contrasted the beige legs and walls.

All eight students were in high spirits as they were informed that they would be excused from any classes on the next day.

Ruby , Nora , Weiss and Yang concentrated on the card game going on between them , a long round of Remnant the card game that they played on a makeshift table consisting of their schoolbags.

Blake , Ren and Phyrra had their heads downwards, absorbed in their lecture. Blake's eyes zoomed over the pages of "Innatural" , its cover showing two men , one short haired and another long haired , looming over an abandoned church in the mist.

Ren flicked throught the pages of "Ecce Homo", his posture stiff yet oddly relaxed.

Phyrra had her thighs covered by a stack of written papers which she checked on any mistakes , as she was two pages in , she only rarely found any errors , most of which were due to Jaune's semi sloppy handwriting.

The blonde in question was silently going throught the mission description over and over again to ease his mind ,that quickly fell back on his nightmare if passive.

And as the Heiress began to announce Atlas victory in a very cocky tone, the elevator pinged and opened. Letting the Huntresses/smen-in-training move into the Headmasters office.

* * *

The Elevator's doors opened with a mechanical ting and the eight made their way into Ozpins office. It was darkened as the shutters were down and a projector displayed an image of a village in the Emerald forrest at night, illuminated by dust bulbs , making it feel as if it was a sanctuary for those within the woods.

Standing next to the picture were the headmaster and Glynda Goodwitch , who gave the students a stack of papers , which they distributed before Ozpin began to adress them.

"Thank all of you for coming , sadly we have to make this briefing very short as we will embark in thee hours on 2100 , so I hope your team leader has already given you the basics. We will move out with two bullheads to a remote Village in the Emerald Forrest. And while the mission's objective is to establish contact with Sovstgarde, we will encounter a hunter "

The screen behind Ozpin switched to a picture that made Jaune's face pale and his blood run cold as he stumbled backwards.

It was the figure from his nightmare, Its face hidden beneath the same brown tri-corned hat and facemask. The same coat , thought less bloody was hanging over his body. His arms and legs were clad in darkened armor that looked battered, charred and greased. The sword in his gauntlets was the same two-handed blade that claimed the lives of his friends. It seemed to stare at something that was blocked by leaves from the camera as it remained hidden between the tree's branches.

As Jaune brought his body forwards to counteract the fall, he felt an arm wrap around his back and Pyrrah move next to him, worry apparent in her gaze.

"W-Who is that?" Jaune managed to stammer out, as the still fresh memories ran rampart in his mind.

Suprised by the young blondes reaction , Ozpin began to closely study him , his eyes red and hair even more unkept than usual. Waiting for any other reactions , the headmaster answered.

"His name is Graham Himura , we only have some very basic information, please take a look at the provided sheets"

Name: 'Himura , Graham '

Date of Birth: n/s

Height: 2,24 m

Weight: a lot ( our scale broke at 200kg !)

Eyes: Red

Hair: Black

Other Information: He's scary, (probably) mental, doesn't like other hunters, does not have much money and sleeps outside, easily pissed by the right words, smells horrible. And a absolute nightmare to fight against (We've seen him punch a wall to bits in roughly 30 seconds... if you need any more proof, look at him! That is not somebody you want to get angry),add to that, the fact he has the pain threshold of a "feckin honey badger on meth" as Raine put it...

lastly , I really don't know how to say this but he's terrified of ducks! We dont know why and he wont tell us, but still. That was quite the suprise when we found out.

We'll see you soon,

Ivory Wolmark and the stationed (former) 9th Atlesian FASOC (Faunus Special Forces Operations Command)

Wondering about the reaction made by Jaune, Glynda inquired.

"you know him Mr. Arc?"

The deputy-headmistress carefully approached the huntsmen-in-training as he hid behind his companions.

"I saw him in my dream today, he killed Ren and Pryyah before he said something to me , I cant remember exactly what , but it involved blood" the blonde whimpered only to feel Ozpins hand settle on his shoulder and as he turned around, he was met with a reassuring smile "Do not worry , we will make sure nobody gets into harms way"

Slowly regaining his composure , Jaune nodded at which both teachers smiled before calling out to the eight teenagers "Alright then, get your kits and meet us at hangar bay 5 at 2100"

* * *

[1] As I doubt that a Old one has any concept of life , it doesn't know what death and birth are which is odd to read and write, but I thought it would be more fitting. If you dont like it, just say it and I'll change it.

 **Hello again, and sorry ( again) that it took so long , some stuff came up and my life now is pretty busy. But the next chapter is already halfway done and I have some free time till january. It should be out this year.**

 **Now onto the reviews**

 **The Nightstriker:**

 **Thanks and I hope I got all of the mistakes ( I'll go through the chapter again tomorrow). I'd be chuffed if someone would like to join me in creating this story, by proofreading or something else. And since I haven't worked out if there is a function to request assistance, This would be an open offer to anyone who's interested.**

 **I4md347h:**

 **Well... there may be a bit of a conflict with Odeon, but I have a plan for it and I hope you'll like it.**

 **If you have critisim or tips, please let me know**

 **[\T/] Darth daver.**


	4. The Hunt's Mark

The night brought down heavy rain upon the Emerald Forest and its creatures.

One of which was lying in wait for his prey to pass and the pack to attack.

The Grimm's paws trod carefully over fallen leaves and twigs , not making a sound as it followed the masked faunus through the foliage.

It saw the red eyes of its brethren light up as they closed in on the dozen humanoids.

As the beowolf concentrated on its prey , it failed to notice that the small bird in the tree behind him vanished with a gust of wind.

Its muscles tensed while the claws dug into the ground. And just as it was about to pounce on the groups rear guard, a deer faunus, a large blade pierced its spine and pinning it to the soil.

Before the grimm could react, a thin dagger penetrated its skull.

Graham let the carcass hit the ground softly. The moonlight sword stood still as he drew a few throwing daggers.

Now he was waiting for the other beasts to leave their cover.

Seconds later, the party leader passed a bush. This made the beowolf hiding in it spring forth in an attempt to gouge out the fox-faunus throat.

The knives Graham held shot forward with uncanny force, their blades found a new home in three of the grimm.

The attack send the group into panic. They yelled and began to fire into the forest as pitch black shadows closed in fast until their leader, a alpha beowolf, was stopped mid-jump by a cross-guard sticking out of its head.

Metallic glints coming from the dark made them freeze as the sword's bearer gripped his weapon's blade at two-thirds of its length before it became a streak of shadow, brutally dancing through the oncoming beowolves.

A few moments later, the figure stood still again, resting between the mutilated carcasses.

In the blink of an eye, the shadow turned around and shot towards them, until it was only a few metres away. his tri-corned hat hiding his eyes.

The group took aim at the unknown humanoid as it began to speak.

"Greetings. May I know why you walk through the forest at this ungodly hour? And why you hide your faces?"

His deep,dark tone fell of deaf ears as the fox-faunus breathed out a question in disbelieve.

"What are you?" his trembling voice resonated through the rainy forest.

"That is a very broad question. But I presume you would like to know who I am. My name is Graham Himura, I was a human, now I've stepped down to a hunter. And you are?..." the figure's head was angled downwards, the tri-corned hat hiding his eyes while the rest of his face was covered by a mask.

"A human... YOU ALWAYS THINK YOU'RE SO GREAT" a faunus with her face hidden behind a white boar mask screamed.

Flicking her rifle's safety of, she pulled the trigger "DIE. DIE. DIE YOU BASTARD"

The Bullets pierced Graham, his body shook slightly through the impacts.

Yet after the storm of copper and lead stopped, he remained on his feet.

"What the hell...?" the boar girl let her rifle fall onto the rain-soaked soil.

The hunter's shoulders slumped forwards as he pulled down his scarf, revealing two rows of canine teeth,between which elongated fangs rested.

" **Nevermind"** his voice ceased to sound human, it sounded as if a grimm learned to speak.

This horrid scene made the fox-faunus scream, yet the only sound he made was a gurgling as a blade opened his throat.

The masked female attempted to run back towards her comrades , who had their backs turned to her as they fled into the forest. Only to feel a sharp pain over her heart. Looking down, she saw a gauntlet protracting from her chest, coated in blood.

And before her body had hid the ground, another volley of knives was send out into her friends. In her last moments , she rotated her head to see who killed her. The figure's eyes were far more wrathful than any grimm, as they shared their red colouration safe for the silver-gold slivers inside of these orbs.

As her life ebbed away, with her on the cold forest ground, she thought back to happier times. When her family was alive, but now, as those who she had known for years were hunted down by this wraith. She would join her family, not wanting to miss them any longer, the girl closed her eyes. To the screams of her comrades, she was reunited with them soon.

Graham ripped the thin dagger, pinning a deer-masked faunus head to a tree, from the bark and sheathed it. The hunter took the mask and stored it inside his coat before hiding their bodies.

Dragging the last corpse away from the pile hidden inside a natural cavern, the hunter bound the feet of a dead female deer-faunus and suspended the body from a high tree, hanging upside down.

Shackling the deer-faunus hand over her head, which fell as a blade severed muscles, ligament and vertebrae, attaching the neck to her torso. resuming his search for the _"Hunter's of Beacon",_ Graham left behind the hunters mark for all to see.

* * *

~~~~2110 – Airspace over the Emerald Forest~~~~~

* * *

"Urrrgh, why does it have to rain tonight?" Yang let her head fall against the bullheads armoured hull.

Her sister fussed around with her weapon, a large metal contraption she dubbed "Crescent Rose" , to make sure that it was properly functioning and completely waterproof.

The other eight hunters boarding the airship agreed with the blonde. yet Jaune , who always tried to cheer his friends up, stretched his words to "What , not up for a natural _Xiao-er?_ "

This pun proved to be even too much for Yang as she slouched in her seat "You have a long way to go before your on my pun level, Jaune "

"The both of you are horrible at jokes" Weiss pinched her nose as the light illuminating the interior turned from red to green, signalling their arrival.

" _10 seconds until drop-off, I'll get you close to the village but their landing sites are full of own crafts. So the lot of you will have to walk 'bout 100 metres"_ A soothing voice came through the intercom as they felt the aircraft descend until the doors snapped open, letting them exposed to the wind and rain as they jumped onto the road.

As they landed and the roaring engines shot towards beacon, the forest became eerily quiet. Not a single sound could be heard barring the rain hittingleaves and soil. yet the serenity was only on the surface, the second they went outside the VTOL, the hunters felt a pair of eyes on them.

Like a Hound that had chosen its prey.

Dread settling inside the teenagers, they pressed forward through rain and wind towards Sovstgarde's illuminated gate.

With the heavily fortified entrance only seconds away, they took in the entrance. Hesco blocks, sandbags and bremer walls lined the street along with two foxholes with LWMMGs inside. These were lit up by floodlights that shined into the dark forest.

"Ozzy!" One of the three guards watching over the east gate yelled out in a friendly tone.

His head was protected by a large steel dome, its visor had a protrusion over his eyes filled with thick glass. His body was covered by a massive type 4 flak jacket, reaching from his throat over the torso strapped full with magazine pouches to a separate plate over the groin area, under which the distorted black, brown and green blobs of the CADPAT shirt reached over his arms and ended in heavy duty gloves of the same colouration.

The pattern continued over his pants, on which a P227 was holstered, boots and rifle. the larger and heavier cousin of the AR-15,was favoured by the guards as the grimm would fall quickly from the powerful 300WIN-MAG cartridges.

The headmaster studied the figure before replying "Ivory?"

The guard in question went down behind the fortifications to open one of the substantial steel doors.

Walking through the now opened door and towards the hunters, he pulled up his visor.

" 'ello it has been a while , hasn't it? I guess Graham didn't greet you" Ivory held out his right hand. The gesture was returned by Ozpin.

"No , he hasn't. May we get inside? this weather is very unpleasant"

Suddenly, Blake chimed in "I'm sorry but you might have a broken sewage pipe. It reeks. Can anyone else smell that?"

"Don't worry , that's just Graham's smell, in which case you want wanna worry,... we spray him with air fresheners whenever he's 'ere but it doesn't do much" One of the guards in the foxholes answered , his voice coarse from years of smoking.

Weiss took a deep breath and began to dry-heave as the foul odour of old sewage, rot, blood and many more unpleasant notes hit her "By Oum, then make him wash himself. This is ungodly"

"We tried, he said no. And well bugger me, speak of the stinking devil..." a female voice came from the second machine gun.

The group turned around while the floodlights turned to illuminate the wet asphalt.

A massive figure was treading towards them, and as Jaune saw what it carried, he paled and cold sweat let him shudder.

Slowly coming closer was the wisp from his nightmare, the same tri-corned hat, the same dented armour and sword...

there was a pink hue to the water running down the wraith as it stopped. The blade that had slain Ren and Pryyha in its right, a thin sword-bayonet in its left.

Without uttering a word, the figure bowed forward in a grandiose manner with his left gauntlet in front of his torso.

The hunter remained in the position for a few seconds before straightening his back and letting his deep voice rumble out "So, these are the hunters you called? lacking armour and fearing the dark..."

Ivory saw how the huntsmen/huntresses tensed up and as they began to reach for their weapons, he addressed Graham " Evenin' mate. Meet Ozpin, Glynda an' the teams JNPR and RWBY"

"Do I need a spade for them or are they friendly?" The hunter's voice was devoid of any emotion.

Sighing, the guard retorted "Didn't I ask you to treat them nicely?"

"One of 'em is abo't to launch a log through 'is bloody pants. The black and white haired ones look ready to hurl and the rest isn't so much shaking as vibrating since I came 'ere. You requested that I'd not harm the young hunters, but none of this lot is one" His statement was without malevolence.

Weiss did not like a few things, one in particular was people talking over her head, especially if she was mentioned. So she took action by stepping forwards while huffing.

"I demand that you apologize for your uncivilized behaviour and complete lack of manners"

"I will not apologize. I greeted you and even though you did not respond I still was ready to speak with you, if this was Yahrnam then you'd be nothing more than a smear on the pavement by now" Graham's cold eyes focused in her, reacting to the even the smallest of movements.

"You... YOU-"

"In this case you are both the aggressor and the one lacking any manners"

Before the now fuming heiress could retort, Ozpin spoke up "Now ,now. Lets not fight. So you are Graham Himura? My name is Ozpin , I am the headmaster of Beacon , a esteemed school for huntresses and huntsmen. May I ask which academy you graduated?"

"Why are you asking me that? I'm sure Ivory has given you all he knows about me, which includes my lack of any formal education"

The headmaster shook his head "No, it appears that he missed some details"

"So you're uneducated as well as uncivil and a ruffian" Weiss growled.

"Teaching can't save yer sorry arse when shits goes down" Graham's voice was flat while he sheathed the knife into a scabbard on his right gauntlet.

Pacing forwards again, the red mist of anger descended upon her "We'll see about that"

"Ms. Weiss. I suggest you cease to plan an attack, I am a man of my word so I would not like to break the promise that Ivory an' I made"

"Don't worry, I won't be the one getting hurt" the heiress hand wandered towards Myrtenmaster.

"Negative. By studying your actions, the time you would need to draw your weapon is about 1.4 seconds, getting ready for a thrust after roughly another second. If I had made the promise not to kill then I would like to demonstrate it by removing your sword-arm, sadly I already agreed on no harm at all. So , as I said, please stop before I have to break more than my word"

Weiss staggered back at how calm and formal he sounded while he spoke about such a brutal act.

"Thank you for realizing your mistake"

Ivory loudly cleared his throat to gain the hunters attention before he made things worse " A'ight, now that you know each other, mind getting inside? There's a reason why this entrance is a fortress"

"Are you sure you want them inside the Village? There are no Grimm in the vicinity so we can talk or fight outside"

"Just get inside ye wanker!" the coarse voice stemming from one of the guards mounting their LWMMGs rang out in laughter.

Graham looked up towards the voice"Evenin' Tanner, didn't ye want to accompany Häyhason to meet his in-laws?"

The mentioned male shrugged"Only if it became a shit-show, but his wife told him some stories about them. They seemed nice 'nough"

"Well... that's fortunate-"

"Stop stalling and get inside"

Letting out a low grumble, Graham followed the huntresses and huntsmen inside the village walls.

passing through the gate, the female guard saw the emblem on Weiss' back before sneering" 'ang on , you're a Schnee?"

Graham remembered how he came to know that name.

 _As the first, orange strands of light pierced the windows surrounding the chow-hall on the second floor of the guard tower. a lone figure sat on one of the benches, hunched over something vaguely edible._

 _The serene atmosphere was broken as a door creaked open, revealing Raine in CADPAT trousers, combat boots and a plain grey shirt. her short, dark-brown hair fell over her left eye, partially hiding it. The right side was tucked behind her ear. Her fair skin showed signs of her life as a solider with some minor scars and her hair combed over other, more gruesome ones. Her muscular body stood at about 1,90 metres._

" _Mornin'"_

 _The figure now sat ramrod straight, his face hidden under mask and hat._

 _After filling a cup with coffee, Raine made her way towards him._

" _'ow can ye eat tha'? whatever_ that _is" she spoke as she sat down on the opposite bench, facing the hunter._

 _He shrugged "This is quite alright.I ate worse..."_

" _The bloody 'ell have ya been chowing?" the guard rose an eyebrow before she took a sip of her drink._

 _Graham patiently waited for her to swallow. Only responding as the cup was placed back on the table "Trash, birds , rodents... everything edible"_

 _Raine's face became stoic "Ye talking outta yer arse"_

" _Pigeons are fine, but smaller stuff like redbreast are jus' feathers n' bones"_

 _The brunette shivered at the thought before chuckling and shaking her head "No, jus' no ma'e"_

 _Afterwards, the silence resumed, the only sounds were small noises. The chirping of birds from outside combined with Raine's cup softly hitting the table._

 _A few minutes later, the guard spoke up again "Mind takin' of the mask?"_

 _The reply came quickly. "Yes"_

" _Why?"_

" _I like to be unknown. There is a large advantage to remaining faceless"_

" _Ye sure it's that , an' not that huntin' did a pretty bad number on ya?" Raine's voice held a semblance of warmth as she gestured towards the little space that mask and hat failed to conceal._

" _No, no. my scars have nothing to do with this, there are only a few on my face" the hunter calmly responded._

 _Carefully inspecting the small window of shown skin, the guard responded "Doesn't look like a small amount, so how many are talkin' 'bout?"_

" _About ten large and many small ones" Graham's eyes followed her every move._

" _If you call tha' 'a few' then how the hell does the rest of you look? I mean I too got some scars on me 'ead, but those are just nicks, apart from two" she patted the spots over which her hair was combed._

 _The hunter's gauntlets contracted, knowing over the state of his body "There is very little of me that hasn't been marred by the hunt. Yours stem from your occupation I presume"_

 _Raine visibly saddened as she continued to stroke the two scars, she did this to herself and never would forgive herself for it "Well, most of 'em. Wanna know why I'm 'ere?_

" _Sure" letting his hands relax, Graham waited for the brunette guard's story._

" _Me maw 'as been a lawyer as long as I could think, dad was a accountant. So I 'ad a good childhood, sure both had a shitton of work, but they always found some time to play with me. But as they both became bigger in the bat'le for equali'y, shit became real. The Schnee Dust Company bought their businesses before sending us on a_ work trip _into one of their dust mines, there we were sacked and forced to dig. Maw had a injury on 'er spine after a few weeks and couldn't walk any-more so I began pullin' me weigh. One day, I was abo't eleven, the dust in the air went off, almost took me soddin' arm wit'it"_

 _Raine pulled up her left sleeve, on which, under a tattoo of a vanishing skull wearing a Corinthian helmet, clutching a bayonet in its teeth, a scar crossed her arm. The scorced skin covered her shoulder and part of her upper arm._

" _The only reason it's still there was another inmate , Vlad Bronzavyi , a former doc' who stapled me arm back on and took care of me. He's also the reason why I'm 'ere, because at the time I realized tha' words only get you so far. So I began training in that dirty hole. And after a year, we rose from the 'Gulag' as Vlad called it. The SDC didn't want to let us go without a fight, so we gave 'em hell. There I learned that pressure and gunfire were things I could cope with extremely well. And after we go' out,I wanted to enrol in the Atlas military, but just like in Socie'y, faunus were shat on"_

 _Closing her hands around the warm mug, she stared into the brown liquid as she continued "One day, I got wildly drunk and in me state, pissed outta my mind. I cut of me ears... I'm a lynx faunus and when I woke up on the next day, I cried me fookin' eyes out and swore to never again touch a drop of alcohol. I already knew Herring back then so I called him. He was jus' abo't to enroll, jus' like me. And after he 'eard what I did, 'e basically dragged me into the enrolment office with him. Now I'm 'ere"_

 _Raine sighed, feeling slightly embarrassed at telling someone she hardly knew so much about herself. Looking up to gage Graham's reaction, she was met by the ever-present, steeled red orbs of the hunter._

" _Could ya promise me something?..." she began softly "Watch out for those who cannot defend themselves"_

" _Sure"_

While remembering the conversation, Graham calmly addressed Weiss "Ms. Schnee was'it? Are you, by any chance related to the Schnee Dust Company?"

"Yes, my father is the CEO"Her voice held some pride, yet it was shadowed by disgust at something.

"Then, I'm sure you are aware of their actions against faunus" He held no judgement while he scanned the area, the villagers were either openly disgusted or did very little to hide it.

"...yes I am..."her tone switched into guilt and embarrassment.

"Do you support his actions?" he spoke louder than needed, attracting the interest of passer-bys.

Her answer came quickly, holding a conviction "NO, what he did was immoral and wrong"

"Glad to hear tha'"Ivory, content with Weiss' respone, let out a long breath. His hands now uncurling. While he never had any bad encounters with the company, he heard the stories his comrades told him, and those did not bode well for what would happen when the heiress of the SDC arrived. But hearing her shared hate of their methods put his heart at ease.

Slowly, through the heiress answer and Graham silently showing respect towards the other hunters, the mood lightened to the point where Ruby slowed down to walk besides the massive frame following them. And with a spark in her eyes but a timid tone, she spoke. "Can I see your weapons?"

"Why?" his grip on the broadsword's blade tightened.

"You have to excuse her Mr. Himura, she's a weapon nerd"

"Mouu, Weiss. Don't call me a nerd"

"If that's your reason. Then sure. Just the arms on my body or my whole arsenal?" he held out the sword in his hand towards Ruby.

Only for Ivory to push it back against the hunter while pointing in-front of himself "Mind doing that inside? I think you have a lot to talk about with Ozzy"

They stood before a Mansion, its grey stone walls reached two stories high. The steps leading towards the entrance were flanked by two statues, one portrayed a charging unit of soldiers under which a inscribed bronze plate reminded the residents of the price that the soldiers in the great war payed, and that it should not be in vain.

The second statue was a Basilisk. The long, snake like body was covered by what seemed to be thick wooden bark along with scales lining its belly, their form let them look like leaves. Its elongated snout had angled sheets covering the jaw.

"This is the courthouse, I asked Ms. Rowey if she could lend us a room. The guard quarters can't really spare any, so you'll talk 'ere" Ivory walked up to the double doors, pulling one of them open and letting the hunters inside.

They kept following the guard until they arrived on another set of doors, leading into one of the courts. It had high stone walls that transitioned into oak wood two metres above the ground. Three rows of pews created two aisles leading up two opposing half circles consisting of long tables and chairs. Behind the second arc, another gateway led into a smaller chamber.

Entering the room, Ozpin addressed his companions "Mr. Himura, why don't we talk in the office while Ms. Rose explores your weaponry"

The hunter walked between the curved tables "Sure, but if your intent is to attack me unarmed, then that plan will backfire"

"Don't worry, I have no interest in harming you"

Without saying another word, Graham begun laying out weapons while listing, what they only could suspect to be their names.

"These are the holy moonlight sword-" the blade in his hand was placed on the oak-wood, before he continued by drawing the club from his hip "-the beastcutter-" gripping inside his coat, the hunter pulled out a short, twisted sword "-blades of mercy-"

Graham went on until both tables were filled with all kinds of arms, ranging from daggers, knives, axes over ice-picks, swords, spears, viscous looking cleavers, a cane, war-hammers to a wheel, pistols, gatling gun and two hand-mounted cannons.

Walking over to a massive block of stone into which a sword was struck, Jaune looked at the hunter "What is this?"

"As said, this is the Kirkhammer, it can be wielded as a blade or with this mallet. As a hammer, it's sluggish but good against hard targets for singular hits. for instance, those huge fuckin' scorpions that lumber around the forest"

before any more questions were asked, Graham disappeared into the office along with the headmaster.

Picking up the 'saw cleaver' as the hunter called it, Pryyha shuddered, the crude teeth did not seem like they were meant be used against opponents with aura.

* * *

Graham addressed Glynda and Ozpin "How fucked are we? There appear to be quite a lot of hunters. I mean you came out here with ten hunters. So the situation seems dire"

Seating himself into the chair at the end of the table, the professor responded "Inside the kingdoms, the grimm are manageable. But may I know something, Ivory said you were born in 'Yahrnam'. where is this city? I have never heard of it nor found anything on Remnant that is called such"

The large hunter grew suspicious of the headmaster as he answered "Yahrnam, the city of blood. Origin of the hunt. Capital of Saxonland. It was ruled by the 'healing church' an institution that showed what mankind can do at its worst, there are only few survivors of the scourge. What strand of blood are we dealing with? Or where do these beast stem from?"

"What is this fixation on blood about?"

"Drop the act, there are no civilans nearby" Graham stood on the other end of the table, hidden behind him was the door.

"I'm not acting, Mr. Himura."

"The shit that enables us to keep on fighting"

"You mean aura?" raising an eyebrow, Ozpin waited for an answer.

"If you want to call it that, then do so. But tell me were up against"

"They're called Grimm, they are the manifestation of malevolence and we have no idea where they come from. Could you please show us your aura?"

Graham drew a crude looking auto-injector filled with a crimson liquid "Why? Does yours have a different colouration?"

Both Glynda and Ozpin recoiled slightly at the sight, as they previously thought that 'blood' just was a weird nickname "Is that real blood?"

"of course it is. So, once again , what strand are we fighting? The locals do not seem to get infected by being wounded from beasts"

"I have never heard of the usage of blood for mending wounds nor of any disease transmitted by Grimm"

"What?..." Graham stumbled backwards slightly before strapping the injector back on his thigh.

"May I have one of those vials? their effect could help thousands"

The situation slowly dawned on the hunter. No blood meant no beastly scourge, no hunt... and so he begged the little ones for his arms. And as they obliged and the weapons sprouted from the walls and ground around him, invisible to the other two people in the room. he let out a demonic growl **"No..."**

"Why?-" Glynda felt her anger rise at the hunters selfishness "- do you not care about others?"

" **Tell me, do you wish to turn this land into something worse than hell?"** silently, under the cover of his coat, Graham activated the old hunters bone.

From behind the door, voices rang out, wondering over the weapons that sunk into the tables.

Ozpin rose to his feet, his cane pointed at the hunter as he spoke "What are you talking about?"

" **The Blood transforms those who take it into vicious beasts, lusting for more and killing everything in their wake to get it"**

"Wait. You said that the blood keeps you able to fight... so you've taken it. Right? Remove your mask this instant" Glynda used her semblance to shred two chairs into sharp splinters.

While Graham's left wandered remained under his coat, his right gauntlet slowly moved towards his face

"Hunters are, as long as they are sane, immune to the scourge"

"I SAID REMOVE YOUR MASK" the blonde flicked her wrist, the wooden projectiles now were beginning to rotate quicker and quicker.

The first thing to fall was the tri-corned hat. Now long, pitch-black hair adorned the hunter's head. And as he looked into the deputy headmistresses eyes, his gauntlet reached for the scarf and pulled it down.

Graham's face had lived through may horrid encounters, five claw marks dragged from his scalp to his chin along with a long branding that ended in two, pincer like extrusions over his left eye. Another set of five scars reached from ear to ear and went from his nose, down until the last one was on the edge of his jaw. Many smaller cuts, burn marks and bullet-wounds were scattered over his face and throat along with a broad slash on his adam's apple.

Under the scars, he appeared unexpectedly young, he was in his late twenties, maybe early thirties. And, if it weren't for the abundance of marks, somewhat handsome.

After taking a few seconds to recompose himself, Ozpin spoke up again "What in Oum's name happened to you? And how have you survived all of that?"

"I didn't-" he pointed towards the large scar on his throat "-this one in from one of the times I got decapitated"

"No, that's impossible, you can't just come back from death-" Glynda aimed all shards at the already marred face, for while he spoke, she saw his teeth. Two rows of long, canine spikes that would be fitting for a wolf and not a human. "-stay back" she warned.

His eyes, still as cold and dead as the second they met, focused on the projectiles aimed at him while he once again pulled up the mask and took his hat.

"I will. Because this will be the last and only meeting, I'll return to Yahrnam" the weapons around Graham sunk back into the walls and floor.

Ozpin called out"Wait, I would like you to accompany us to Beacon. As there are changes occurring since you arrived, and I have yet to grasp why. So please, assist a fellow hunter"

" **DO. NOT. call yourself that"** the figure stared at the headmaster, the steel inside his eyes cracked only to reveal burning rage.

"Okay, I'm sorry, but as I said. Please come with us"

"...a'ight" Graham shrugged and retracted his left gauntlet from the depths of his coat.

Opening the door, the three went back inside the courtroom. Only to find most if the teenagers sitting in the judges chairs while Ivory listened to a radio-transmission.

"Full copy, I'll bring 'em with me-" The guard looked up to finally see the that they returned from whatever they were discussing"-We'll move out now, over. Alright everyone, there's a large cluster of Grimm moving towards the east-gate, the full program, so everything from boarbatusks up to deathstalkers"

As soon as Ivory began to talk, Graham quickly rearmed himself before rushing out of the court and disappearing into a puff of yellow smoke as he reached the door.

Following the hunter with the others in tow, Ivory cursed with a smile on his lips "Not a mage me arse"

* * *

Recommended Music : Sabaton – Aces in Exile

* * *

Closing in on the gate, Graham ran towards the guard tower and saw Raine in full combat gear, shouting orders while wielding a box-fed LWMMG "GET SOME GUSTAVS AND MAN THE VADS IF A NEVERMORE COMES"

Turning her head as she slung a backpack filled with three rockets, the guard saw the hunter approaching and threw the knapsack towards him "HERE, Take these to the blokes with the launcher" before running in the same direction.

Catching the pack, he kept on sprinting into the increasingly loud gunfire.

As the gate came into his sight, Graham saw guards piled on the scaffolding behind the Hescos, firing away into the advancing Grimm. Two had large tubes on their shoulders and another soldier behind them, pushing a cylinder into the pipe, securing the payload by rotating a smaller end piece behind it and locking it there. Before tapping the wielder on the arm and crouching to their side as the rocket was send out towards a incoming Deathstalker.

Calling out to one of the fire-teams armed with a launcher, the hunter held up the knapsack " 'ere, new ammo"

Turning his head, Leaden looked down as he took the rockets "Thanks"

Graham walked towards one of the blocks before throwing the moonlight sword over it and pulling himself over as well.

Now standing in-front of the gate, he saw a few Grimm closing in on the defences and shot forward.

The first was a Boarbatusk, charging forward until, in the blink of an eye, a cross-guard slammed into the bone-plate on its head, breaking it and killing it in the process.

Next was a Creep, that suddenly fell over, missing a leg before dying through a blade being thrust into its spine.

And as the fourth Grimm fell, the hunters of Beacon arrived. Looking beyond the wall, they saw Graham darting between the monsters.

Attempting to yell over the gunfire, Ozpin addressed the teams "All who can't engage over distance, keep your head down and keep them from reaching the village"

With the tenth kill, the hunter pinned a Beowolf alpha to the ground with his sword and almost tore its head off while twisting it to the side. Snapping its neck.

Rotating his body to let a Ursa's paw cut through the air, he drew the Beastcutter and let the saw-like teeth rip open its torso.

A few metres away, another Creep had begun charging towards the blocks. Only for its face to strongly dent inwards at the contact with a golden gauntlet and it to fly into the woods.

"Don't have all the fun alone" Yang grinned as she send a Beowolf into his brethren and a red scythe to relive their torsos of their bottom halves.

While they pushed back the monsters, they saw a large Deathstalker storm towards the gate only for a H.E.A.T. round to slam into its head while smaller calibers tore through the bone-plates. Along with all the bullets digging into its flesh, one of its legs snapped as a heavy stone block, attached to a sword-hilt, flew against it.

The falling giant send shock-waves over the battlefield.

Jaune fought before the walls, the Beowolf he faced was already missing a leg that was laying between the two combatans. Moving forward with the intent to end the duel, the knight focused on the beast and failed to notice a Creep charging towards him.

Swinging his blade at the wolf, the young huntsmen suddenly felt his world move to the side considerably. He only noticed the sensation of his ribs straining to hold up against the pressure as he collided with a tree. Rotating his torso, he bashed the creature's head with the swords pommel.

Witnessing the scene, five guards moved in to help the struggling blonde. A volley of copper send into the Creep made it buckle, releasing its prey.

Jaune looked towards the soldiers, his shield-arm clutching his abdomen, they moved quickly, firing short burst at the Grimm behind him.

Reaching him, one of them let go of his weapon, the attached sling catching the weight, and supported him by taking his arm and laying it over his shoulders.

"We'll get you outta here, you seem to have a few ribs fucked up. I'll patch you up when were back inside" the guard tried to calm Jaune down while they went towards and through the gate.

The second the Steel door closed, the soldier put down the blonde. Opening his medical supplies, he set to work surveying the damage and mending the fractured ribs.

All around them, the volleys send out by the machine-guns were joined by the explosions of anti-material rifles and newly arriving mortairs.

Ruby layed between two guards, firing into the lit up night. Pulling her scythes bolt back once more, she tried to stand up, only for a voice to erupt from her side "What's wrong?"

"I have no more rounds-" she began, scratching her head to relive her nervousness, only to be interupted mid-sentence "What do you need?" "-uhh, 12.7 millimeter-" The soldier took two of his own magazines and passed them to her "here, just shout if you need more"

Getting back on her stomach, she fed the bullets into her own magazines while responding "Thank you" and returned to fire into the advancing Grimm.

Ivory saw the guard next to him look up "OH FUCK ME. NEVERMORE!" before grabbing a blockish pair of binoculars and his radio "We've got a Nev, bearing 95. Get it down and send someone to secure air superiority"

Hovering above the other Grimm, the large bird prepared to launch its feathers. It saw a burning streak of light fly towards it. The radiant shards pierced its hide, leaving little to fall to the ground.

Hearing the sound of blades cutting through the air, the guards smiled as their radios all let out a synconized message "Hunter 1-1 is active. Engaging Targests" the statement was followed by a storm of rockets roaring down into the forest.

Slowly,through the hail of gunfire, the Grimm thinned out as tracers and floodlights lit up the night.

* * *

Sitting behind the wall, the huntresses and huntsmen-in-training rested. While a few guards scouted the damage and Graham informed Ivory of his departure.

"And what will you do there?" the ram-faunus stood away from the gate.

"I have no idea but whenever you need a hunter, let me know and I'll be here in under ten minutes" he spoke while re-stocking his throwing knives.

Smiling at the offer, he signalled Raine to come closer before excusing himself and dragging his feet towards the tower to sleep and handle the paperwork.

"Ye really goin' te Beacon?-" yawning as she walked towards Graham, she looked up into his eyes. The hunter only nodded "-Then take of yer massive arse-" she had a soft smile on her face. Resting her weapon against a nearby wall. She opened her arms "-and be sure to visit, even if yer off-duty" and attempted to embrace him, only to earn a very confused look from the hunter as he stepped back.

"What are you doin'?"

"Tryin' to hug ye..."

"The fuck's that?"

Sighing, she closed her arms around his torso, feeling the knives and armour-plates press against her.

Graham looked down, puzzled at the act as he held his hands up, not knowing what to do.

After a few seconds, Raine stepped back and took one of her patches off "I've talke' with Ivory and we'd like ya to don this-" she held up the emblem of the 9th FAMASOC "- as you got a good 'ead on yer shoulders, well maybe you tend to go fuckin' mental, but you've been a real help to this village and our battalion"

The hunter bowed forwards as he took the patch "I'd be honoured"

"That's the spirit-" the guard chuckled "- but ye still have to say goodbye to the villagers ye know"

Pocketing the badge, the hunter answered "I will. Ozpin said we'd leave tomorrow"

"Good, now come on. There's still shit to do" Raine slung the machine-gun over her shoulder before walking back towards the wall, Graham in tow.

* * *

That night, the hunter returned to the dream, and after the Doll held his hand to let the gained blood echoes strengthen him. They went inside the workshop, the cup of tea she prepared for him still steaming.

"Remnant is devoid of the blood" he spoke up, taking of his scarf to allow the warm liquid into him.

"Then why were you called there?"

the hunter sat on the shop's altar"I have no idea, they have beasts called 'Grimm' they could be another strand of the blood. But then there would be more than one great one, add to that the fact that their wounds do not transmit any illness and they have humans with animal features. This new area has too many new variables to fit into what happened in Yahrnam."

"...And , what now?"

"I don't know-" Graham turned away from her, looking towards the cosmic display above the small island "-but there has to be some reason to why the dream is connected through the Gravestones. I met their 'Hunters', they're just children... so the situation has to be bad, otherwise I'll have a word with the headmaster"

The Doll walked towards him, her soothing voice held a spark of hope "If Remnant really appears to be in such a dire state, then please aid them in their fight"

"I promise I will, but the land is in good condition, they have lush green forest, animals and strangers are welcomed"

"Good hunter-" she her hands his gauntlet "- if there would be any chance, could you take me this place? It sounds beautiful"

"If I was able, then you'd be already. But until you may roam these woods, I'll do what I can to help this new order of hunters" gently removing her warm digits, he put the empty cup down before walking to the new tombstone and returning to Remnant.

Staying behind was, as always, the Doll. Drying the single tear that left her eye with the sleeve of her dress "Thank you... Graham"

* * *

Next Morning, Sovstgarde

* * *

Yawning, the students and hunters of Beacon boarded the Bullhead, currently standing on one of the village's helipads.

"Dibs on our shower" Yang's tone left no room for debate as she let herself fall onto the thin sheets of red canvas that made up the two rows of seats on the VTOL's sides.

Outside the vessel, laughter could be heard as Graham bid farewell to a few guards and civilians "Goodbye ma'e-" "-Come visit us-" they all waved at the figure,retreating into the ship.

Tanner's coarse voice cut through the mixing goodbyes with a laugh "-Maybe take a shower while ye there"

Without responding, the hunter stepped inside the vessel. Seating himself behind one of the doors, that closed after he entered.

With all passengers on board, the engines roared as the VTOL climbed upwards before tilting the thrusters and setting off towards Beacon.

Inside the Bullhead, few words were exchanged as the students slept while Glynda graded papers and Ozpin studied the reading hunter.

The headmaster wondered what happened to Graham, catching a glimpse of the inside of his coat, he spoke up while his eyes wandered over the abundance of knives, plated armour and some large boxes attached to his sides "What are those packets?"

Flipping another page, the hunter calmly responded "Those are satchel-charges"

"WHAT?" Glynda looked up from stack of papers.

"potent explosives for the demolition of structures. Combined with the metal in my coat, that makes me a massive frag-grenade" dog-earing a page, he let his hand wander inside the coat in the same manner he had last night.

"Why do you have those strapped to you?" Ozpin felt a spark of fear as he realized what the hunter almost did in the office.

"If I lose a fight but have to take my opponent with me, I pull this pin and send both of us all over the arena" his serene tone put the professors on guard.

"You're Insane"

Graham looked up into the blonde's eyes"Why does everybody say tha' ?"

The intercom activated and the pilot's voice rang out _" Coz' you are. Landing in ten short, get your kits ready"_

Feeling the Bullhead shift, Ozpin stood up and made his way to the hunter "Mr. Himura-" he opened the door, revealing the grand structure known to many "-Welcome to Beacon."

As his feet touched the ground, the hunter scanned his surroundings. The black and white academy stretched high and broad, its gardens filled with life.

His gauntlets angled to draw his shotgun and the Beastcutter at any time, Graham waited for the others to exit the vessel.

"Follow me, I will show you around. And do not worry, no one will attack you." Glynda saw how the hunter let his hands fall to his sides before walking behind her towards the buildings.

Biding farewell to Ozpin, the awake parts of RWBY and JNPR carried their friends into the dorms. The blond knight slowly limped, trying to catch up with his yawning friends, as he felt his weight shift over a third shoulder, looking to his side, he saw his partner assist him.

The headmaster made his way into his office before calling his trusted colleague "Hello Qrow, come to Beacon as soon as possible. We have something important to discuss."

* * *

 **Hello again, I hoped you liked this chapter. I sadly cannot give any date for when the next one's coming out.**

 **If you have any suggestions to improve this story, please tell me.**

 **Thanks for reading,**

 **Darth daver**


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